


Ransom and Strange Blessings

by dondena



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003)
Genre: Adventure, Friendship, Gen, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-25
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-06 02:30:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 36
Words: 55,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4204614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dondena/pseuds/dondena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Don is captured and held for ransom for Leo by a new enemy, but one who works for Bishop. What are his plans for the turtles?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It all began during the time when Donatello was infected with the outbreak virus. One of Agent Bishop’s scientists was intrigued with these mutant turtles. He had just been hired not too long ago for the research that Bishop did in his hidden government headquarters. He had barely gotten to see the monster turtle turned back to normal before the mutant family ran out of the building before it was going to be destroyed. 

Though this scientist was intrigued with them all, the one that he found the most fascinating was the blue masked turtle. He had such a caring and grownup maturity to him. He found his name was Leonardo. But he also wanted a chance to see the monster turtle turned back to normal too. 

After the turtles had gotten away when Donatello had been turned normal again, it was several weeks later when he saw the turtles next, during the battle of New York, trying to protect it from a demon. But now that that battle was over, it was time to set his plan into action. 

This man had enough experience in the fields of science, biology, math, medicine, and business. He wanted to start a project of his own, and Bishop would grant him this, as long as it was beneficial to their work. 

The man said he wanted to study and work on the mutant turtles. 

Bishop wasn’t too surprised. The turtles were certainly worth studying. They were the only ones of their kind. 

The man didn’t want to kill the turtles, but when the ones he wanted were captured, he would go to any lengths to keep them restrained and contained until he could get what he wanted. And he had a special idea of how to get something from the turtles that would aid in their work.   
………………

The first one that the man wanted was the turtle that had been turned into a monster: Donatello. He wanted to see what he could do. He had heard that he was the smart one, so he had to be worth something. 

Commandoes went around different parts of the city at night, looking for the turtles on patrol. They knew they mainly came out at night. They would get the purple masked turtle even if he was found with his brothers. But the orders were to tranquilize any others with him and just take him alone.   
One night at Smitty’s junkyard, which was Don’s favorite one, Don and his brother, Raphael, the red masked one, were salvaging parts to upgrade the Shell Cycle. Don had his duffel bag to collect the supplies. 

Raph wasn’t too pleased about being there, but he wanted to get away from Mikey annoying him tonight. And he knew what few parts for the Shell Cycle might need. He was a little tech savvy like Don when it came to his bike. 

The commandoes snuck in and got the two turtles’ attention. Their guns were on stun, but there were also men with tranquilizers ready. A transport truck had been called before they had engaged. They were confident that they would achieve their goal. 

Don and Raph stopped what they were doing and withdrew their weapons. Standing back to back, they did their bast to deflect the shots. 

“Raph, we have to get out of here!” Don shouted over his shoulder. 

“These are Bishop’s flunky commandoes!” Raph said. 

“Another reason to find a way back to the sewers.” Don said. 

“You go first. I’ll cover you.” Raph said… Then everything went black.   
……………

Raphael was awoken by the sounds of his shell cell going off. Rubbing his head, he looked around and gasped when he realized what had happened. “Donny!” He shouted into the night as he looked around for his brother. He then answered his phone. 

“Hello!” Raph said groggily. 

“Raph! Where are you and Don? It’s 3 in the morning!” Leo’s angry voice sounded on the line. 

“Leo! We were ambushed by commandoes! We were knocked out and it looks like they took Don!” 

“What?! Where are you?” Leo demanded. 

“Smitty’s Junkyard.” 

“We’ll be right there.” Leo said and hung up. 

Raph continued to get his bearings and he collected the duffel bag and Don’s bo and phone.

It didn’t take long for the Battle Shell to pull in. Once Leo and Mikey got out of the truck they began to look for clues. 

“Why would they want to take Donny?” Mikey asked. 

“They never said, but it can’t be good.” Raph said, his head still screaming from the tranquilizers. He already felt a guilty conscious because he couldn’t protect his brother, but he would make it up to Don when they found him.


	2. Chapter 2

The scientist was thrilled that the commandoes had captured Donatello unharmed. He took some blood and tissue samples and ran some tests on him while he was asleep. Eventually, he would get another turtle and compare DNA tests. Surely, when Don had been mutated, his DNA had been completely altered. 

Don was only on the restraining table long enough for those tests to be done. Then the scientist ordered him to be taken to an empty room. 

This one was the smart one and he would have to be watched carefully. 

Donatello was taken to a good sized room where he was put on the floor and they left him alone for now. He would be observed to see what he did. Of course the man knew his main objective would be to find a way out, but he wanted to see what he would be like once he knew he couldn’t get out of his room. They made sure that door was securely locked on the way out.   
…………….

When Don came to, he rubbed his head, waiting for his vision to focus. He wondered how long he had been out. 

“Where am I?” He asked as he looked around. 

He found he was in a big, white room. It was devoid of all furniture. Don got up and checked himself over. He saw some spots on his arms and legs where there were small cuts. Obviously, some tissues had been taken. 

‘Great. I’m a lab specimen.’ Don thought to himself. 

He went to the wall and began testing it for weaknesses. He also tried the door when he got to it. But everything held strong. He remembered he had been taken by commandoes, and now he was in the dreadful hands of Bishop! 

Don knew that Bishop had plans to start an army to defend the planet from aliens. He would not aid him in any way voluntarily to start that army. 

When Don couldn’t find any weak spots, he went to the back wall and sat down. He wrapped his arms around himself and pulled his legs up close to his body. What was going to become of him? What would become of his family? He knew they would find him and get him out of this. He just hoped he hadn’t been taken far away from New York. It would be too hard for the others to locate him without the tracker in his phone. 

Then he remembered that if he was captured, surely Raph was too and he had to be here somewhere. He would get to see his brother soon. He didn’t want to be here alone.   
………….

Raph couldn’t believe that he hadn’t been taken with Don and felt guilty that he couldn’t protect him. As unappealing as the idea of being experimented on was, he would gladly give himself up to protect his younger brother. 

Trying to find any trace of their smart brother had turned up nothing. The brothers needed their smart brother. It would be difficult to go on living without him. They would make sure they would find him and soon. They wouldn’t let Bishop harm him. 

April and Leatherhead even stepped in to try to look up on any signs on where to find Bishop.   
…………….

This scientist was still working for Bishop, but he had his own place to hold Don, or any of the others if he wished to get them. He knew he would want one of the others soon, especially the blue masked one. Then an idea occurred to him. He could hold their brother up for a ransom when it was time. Until then, he wanted to see what Don was capable of.   
……………..

In his cell, Donny felt so alone and scared. After going to that dreadful dimension, he feared for his brothers living without him. He knew what would happen and he didn’t want to see that future come to pass. He had to get out of here at any cost. But that would all depend on what they planned on doing with him. A fleeting chance to escape could come at any moment. He had to stay alert and be ready to escape when the moment presented itself. 

Don valued his mind and body the way it was. He hoped Bishop wasn’t going to do something stupid to him, like he was sure he was going to do. But he also hoped he wouldn’t harm Raph. He knew that harming his brother would make him surrender a lot more easily.   
……………….

For three days, the scientist watched Don from a hidden camera. 

Don had tried several times to find a way out of the room, even pounding and pushing on the door. His yells were never answered. 

The turtle hadn’t had a thing to eat or drink in three days either. He was severely hungry and thirsty. He tried to keep his mouth wet. Don could go awhile without eating, but he was in desperate need of something to drink. He knew he would die of dehydration if he didn’t get some water soon. 

There wasn’t much to do in this plain, boring white room. His mind wandered to his family. He hoped they had found him and that they were on their way. It was even hard for sleep to claim him, trying to sleep on the cold, hard floor. 

Suddenly, Don heard a sound and there was a little door that opened up close to the door. He looked up and saw something slip through the little door. He saw there was a glass on the shelf there. 

Don got up and went over to the shelf. He saw it was a glass of water. Finally! But he knew to be cautious. 

He carefully picked up the glass. He examined it carefully. He looked at it under the light and smelled it. It smelled fine and had no discoloration. He finally deemed it ok and slowly drank the water. He only drank it halfway down, as he didn’t know when he might get more. 

The water had indeed been quite fresh and cold. Don could feel the water make contact with his stomach. He set the glass down not too far from himself and just went back to thinking about a plan to get out of there and about his family.   
…………….

Even for the three days that Don was missing felt like torture for his family. They wanted him back already. 

Driven by guilt, Raph was beating on his punching bag continuously. There were a few times he had gotten close to taking punches at both Leo and Mikey when they tried to get him to stop. 

“We will get him back, Raph.” Leo attempted to soothe. 

“And Bishop’s gonna pay if he’s harmed Donny.” Raph growled. 

They didn’t want to think about that, but they did make sure they had plenty of first aid supplies in case he was hurt when they found him.


	3. Chapter 3

After comparing Don’s DNA with a normal turtle’s and his older DNA, the man concluded that Don’s genetic makeup had been permanently altered as a result of mutation from the outbreak. He then looked at earlier versions of DNA that he had acquired from Bishop. He compared the results from before and after the mutation. 

Don might have been a good host before the mutation, but not now. One of the brothers was going to have to be the host in his little project. So he went over the DNA that had been collected by Bishop not that long ago. 

As smart as Don was, well, he could be valuable in a science lab for being a fellow scientist, but this man wasn’t looking for that. Don could also be subject for other tests, but he wasn’t interested in anything else. His mind was focused on only one task at this time. 

He would let Donatello go on the condition of ransom: switching him with one of his brothers. But he mostly wanted the leader, to see how well he would do, and get fresh DNA from him. 

The man sent out a ransom message to the turtles’ human friends. He made sure to be clear on his condition and that Don could go back to them only if they were followed.   
…………….

As soon as April had received the ransom note she called her friends. By that time, Don had been missing for four nights. 

The Turtles rushed over and when Leo read the note, he was glad to see the message said that his brother was fine. However, the ransom demanded him in exchange for Don to be released unharmed. 

Leo was stunned silent. He would do this in a heartbeat for any of his brothers. 

“I think I should do it, Leo. Don was my responsibility the night he was taken.” Raph insisted. 

“No, Raph,” Leo replied. There was no way he was going to let another one of his brothers go. “I know you feel that way about it, but we have to do what the message says. I’ll turn myself over to him to get Donny out. Don’t worry, I’ll get out.”

“Just be careful, bro.” The pain Raph was feeling bled into his words. Just like Leo, Raph couldn’t bear the thought of having another brother captured when there was something he felt he could do to stop it. 

“I will.” Leo assured him. 

“When are we meeting them to get Donny back?” Mikey asked. 

“Two nights from now at midnight down by the docks.” Leo said. “And it said for me to come alone. I can’t be seen with you guys in order to get him from their custody or they would hurt him.” 

“Those dirty scumbags!” Raph snarled. 

“You guys can come, but you have to stay out of sight and not get caught.” Leo said. “And please Raph, listen to my orders this time.” 

“I’ll do anything to get Donny back.” Raph said. 

Leo was glad for once that Raph was willing to listen to him. Now they just needed to wait for the two nights. It was going to be a long two days.   
…………….

Donny was usually able to keep track of the time of day in his mind. But, sitting in his cell for so long and with nothing to occupy his thoughts, Don had lost track of what day it was. On what he guessed was his fourth day there, he was finally given a meal with more water. No one had come in to see him as of yet. They just gave him the food and water through the little hole in the wall. He still had no idea why he was there.

On his fifth day there, he wasn’t given anything. So what? He was going to be starved for another 3 days? He didn’t think he would survive that long. 

Don was trying unsuccessfully to sleep when a sudden sound jarred him awake. His door was finally being unlocked! He sat up and was going to try to get up, but stopped when someone finally came into the room with some officers behind him. 

“I wouldn’t bother getting all the way up, Turtle.” 

“Who are you and where am I? What do you want with me?” Don demanded. 

“Allow me to introduce myself. You may call me Agent Johnson. I have a little project in mind, but when I looked at your DNA results, I was disappointed. So I am in here right now to let you know that it is time for you to go.” The scientist explained. 

Don gulped. “What about my brother?” He demanded, trying to change the subject. 

“What brother? If you mean the red masked one, my men never took him. You were here by yourself.”

Don sighed, but still trembled nervously. “What are you going to do with me?” 

“Since you are of no further use to me, you are going back to your family. But I require one of your brothers in exchange.” 

“NO! I won’t let you harm my brothers!” Don shouted and got up to charge the man, but was stopped when one of the officers put a tazer to him and it electrified. 

Don screamed in pain as it made him go down. He was just shocked and stunned from the blast. 

“Good job. Now get him prepared for his trip.” Johnson said. 

Don had gone down on his side, but then the officers came up to him. He saw them blurrily in his vision as he was trying to breathe. 

One officer pulled him over onto his stomach, then began pulling at his arms. They were placed behind his back and placed in cuffs. Don winced at the pull on his arms. 

“Now, get up!” 

“And don’t give us any more trouble or there could be worse consequences before you’re even set free.” Another one warned. 

Don was pulled to his feet and moved out of the room. He was willing to behave to be able to be reunited with his family. But he was worried about whichever brother would trade places with him. 

Soon, he was in a car and sitting with Agent Johnson. “Tell me why you took me in the first place.” Don wanted to know. 

“I thought you could be the perfect candidate for my little project and I know you’re the smartest of your clan, but your DNA test results disappointed me. It seems the mutation that happened to you ruined any good chances of the project taking off. So now, I need one of your brothers instead.” Johnson explained. 

“What are you going to do with them?” Don demanded. 

“Like I said, I need them for a little project, but that’s for me to know and you to find out later or never.” The man said. 

Don didn’t like this. “You hurt my brothers and I’ll come after you.” 

Don wasn’t normally a vengeful turtle, but even he wouldn’t let someone hurt his family. 

“Do you want to go back to your family incapacitated? I can arrange it. So don’t go threatening me, Donatello.” Johnson warned. 

Don gave him a big glare. He wanted to punch this guy in the face, but he couldn’t with his hands tied behind his back. He looked away. 

“Good choice.” 

Don looked back over at him when he heard him. There wasn’t anything he could do right now. But he would try to save his brother from taking his place.


	4. Chapter 4

At the docks, Raph and Mikey were in different places, staking out the meeting spot. Leo was out in the open, waiting for the kidnappers. The note had told him to be out in the open when they pulled up at midnight and he couldn‘t be seen with Mike or Raph.

Leo stood there, hoping the car would pull up. Then he heard a car engine. A big, black limo pulled up just then and Leo was worried it might not be the ones who sent him the note, but he held his ground. If it wasn’t them, he would go for cover. 

The car saw him in their lights and stopped and turned them off. Leo had covered his eyes. 

A man got out of the back seat. “Ah, Leonardo. It’s good to see you again.” Johnson greeted the lead turtle. 

Leo uncovered his eyes. “Where’s my brother?” He demanded. 

“He’s in the car. Now come over and I’ll release him.” 

“Not until I see him and he’s alright.” 

“Very well.” Johnson opened the car door. “Come on, Donatello. Your brother has asked to see you.” 

Don had been waiting eagerly for his chance to escape. He gladly got out of the car, remaining alert for any chance that presented itself. 

Leo saw that Don didn’t have any bandages on his body, but saw his brother’s hands were tied up and that he looked weak. He couldn’t tell if it was from being sedated or if he was simply exhausted.

“He’s just fine, Leonardo.” Johnson said, while pulling Don forward by the elbow. 

“Alright. Now let him go.” Leo demanded, ready to jump on the man if he hurt Don. 

“Not until you’re over here.” The man said slowly yet with authority. He knew he had the upper hand in the situation. 

Leo began to walk over. 

“Hold it.” Johnson barked, sticking out his free hand.

Confused, Leo stopped. 

“First, Leonardo, one other condition.” Johnson said and a sly smile spread across his face. “Take off the swords.” 

Leo wasn’t too surprised by that. He had hoped the man wouldn’t think about it. 

“Don’t do it, Leo!” Don cried out to Leo as he tried to pull away from Johnson. 

“Shut up!” Johnson snapped at Don and tugged on his right arm, earning a grunt from Don. 

“Don’t hurt my brother!” Leo shouted.

Johnson glared at Leonardo. “Do what was requested and I won’t!” 

“Alright.” Leo said. He reluctantly took the sword sheath off and laid it on the ground. “I’m doing what you asked. Just… don’t hurt him.”

“Now come over and I’ll let you do the honors of setting Donatello free.” Johnson said, his voice taking on the silky tone of a man who knew he was in charge. 

Leo came over and the man handed him a key so he could undo the cuffs on Don’s wrists. 

Don was grateful for that, but then he saw it. “Leo, look out!” He tried to warn his brother. 

Leo didn’t have time to react as a needle was struck into his neck. “Agh!” Leo grunted in pain. 

Then Johnson slashed Don’s left leg with a dagger, causing Don to cry out and fall to the ground. Then Johnson grabbed the cuffs, the key, and Leonardo. Pushing Leo down to the ground, he hurriedly cuffed his hands up behind him. 

“Leo!” Don cried out while holding his bleeding leg on the ground. He was already weakened by the lack of food and water so the blood loss made his head spin. He knew there was no way he could recover in time to save his brother.

“Now I have your precious leader!” Johnson laughed evilly and pulled him into the car and the car took off. 

Despite the pain and blood loss, Don had gotten up and tried to run after the car. Due to his contention, he couldn’t keep up with the car. 

Raph and Mikey came out of hiding and had dropped down next to Don. Raph had the duffel bag and was frantically fishing through it. “Donny! Are you alright?” Raph asked. 

“We have to get Leo back.” Don grunted through gritted teeth. “And no. My leg.” He moved his hand to show the gaping wound. 

“Leo was sure he would get out of Bishop’s clutches.” Mikey said. “He did this for you.” 

Raph got some medicine and bandages out of the bag, then began cleaning and bandaging Don’s leg. 

“It’s not Bishop who got him, but he was a guy who worked for him.” Don said. “I know he plans on doing something horrible to him. He didn’t do anything to me other than this just now because my DNA wasn’t good enough. Though he did starve me for a few days.” Don explained as a wave of exhaustion washed over him.

“Leo will make it out. He’s strong.” Raph said. 

“I hope you’re right.” Don said, “but why weren’t you guys there helping him?” 

“A ransom note was sent to April and it told us what had to happen. Leo was the ransom to get you back.” Mikey explained. “We were watching though. If it got nasty, we were going to jump in and we were further away than we wanted to be. But we were on the way when we heard you cry Leo’s name.” 

“I couldn’t even get away from this guy. Of course all he did was keep me locked in a room the whole time with nothing to do. But I hope you’re right, that Leo will get away from him. But a needle was jammed into his neck before I could do anything and the man slashed my leg. Leo’s not even going to know where he is.” Don said. 

“Leo will get out and find his way home. He has his phone on him.” Raph assured him. 

Don found that a relief, but the phone could always be discovered and destroyed. His had been removed. 

“We will search for Leo in the Battle Shell. We need to get home and get the truck.” Raph said. 

Don was helped to his feet and they began the long journey back to the lair to get the truck and his leg treated. The cut needed stitches and blood was starting to show through the bandages. They also picked up Leo's swords as well on their way out.   
…………….

In the car, Leonardo was laid on the car seat. His vision was blurry. He moaned about as the tranquilizer had taken effect on him, but hadn’t knocked him out completely. 

In his blurry vision, Leo could barely make out Johnson. He could hear his voice, but couldn’t make out what he was telling him. 

“I am so happy that you are now mine. You are going to be performing a very special job for me that will greatly benefit my boss’s work.” The man said. 

Then Johnson leaned over and began searching Leo’s belt for a phone. He found Leo’s shell cell. “Neat little device of a phone. But sadly, you are not going to need it. You are now mine and helping to fund Bishop’s work, Leonardo.” He rolled down the window of the car and threw the phone into the water as they were still by the docks. 

“Now your family won’t be able to track you down.” He whispered into Leo’s ear. 

Leo moaned. “Let me go…” 

“This is going to be so fun from here on out.” Johnson said. “Pull over when we are in the country, and then take us to the airport.” 

“Yes, Sir.” The driver said. 

A little later, they were in the country and the driver pulled the car over as requested. 

Johnson pulled out a knife and he began removing Leo’s gear. He cut off his belt, elbow and knee pads and disposed of them on the ground. However, he let him keep his blue mask. But he did take it off of Leo’s head for a moment to make sure there was nothing to be used to track him. He found it clean and put it back on the turtle. 

“Now I can make sure you are weapon free. You’re not getting free anytime soon.” Johnson said. 

Leo didn’t like being drugged like this. His vision was spinning and giving him a headache. He soon did black out. 

Johnson saw the turtle was no longer awake and checked his throat for a pulse. It was still going. Obviously he had just blacked out from the drug. He smiled. Good. This would be a lot easier with him out cold on the trip to the new headquarters.   
………………

Back at the lair, Master Splinter had to stitch Donatello’s leg back up. It was bitter sweet. He was glad to have his son back, but now he had another son missing. 

After the treatment, Don limped to his computer that he had missed so much in those five days, and he began to get the 411 on Leo’s tracker. “It’s still down by the docks.” Don said. 

Don wanted to go with the others to get Leo back, but they all insisted that he stay home because of the injury and he could still guide them over the phone. Don reluctantly agreed.   
……………….

Mike and Raph arrived down at the location where the tracker was submitting. “We can’t find anything, Brainiac.” Raph said. 

“Is it near the water or in the water?” Don stated. “I know it’s there.” 

“Nothing on land, Don. We can check the water.” Mikey said. 

Raph and Mikey dived into the water to see if there was an underwater hideout where Leo had been taken. But they followed the signal and found Leo’s shell cell at the bottom of the river. Mike picked it up and brought it up to the shore. 

“We have a problem, Don. We just found his phone on the water’s floor.” Mikey said. 

Don now knew there was something wrong. “They don’t want us to find him. I’ll give you the coordinates to where I was being held and you can go there to try to find him.” 

Raph and Mike were told of where Don had been taken which had been there in the city and went there only to find nothing. Leo had been taken elsewhere. But they didn’t know where. 

But the best chance they had of finding their leader was finding Bishop. He would know. Don would do whatever it took to get Leo back. 

Raph also felt a lot better that Don was back, but now, finding Leo was the main priority.


	5. Chapter 5

Leo came to again on the plane taking him to another facility out of state. His vision had cleared enough, but when he tried to rub his head, he found his arms were pulled above his head and restrained. He tried to move his legs and they too, were tied down. He looked down and discovered that he was on a transport bed. 

“Oh, where am I?” Leo said. 

“I see you are awake. You are on a plane destined for my private facility.” 

Leo felt his heart sink into his stomach when he heard that. “Where are you taking me?” 

“Nebraska.” 

“NO! Let me go!” Leo began to struggle. 

“You won’t get loose. I made sure those restraints were good and tight and last the trip.” Johnson said. 

Leo stopped. “What do you want with me?” 

“A special project that will help fund my boss’s work. I wouldn’t even give Donatello the full details. You’ll find out soon enough.” The man said. 

Leo looked down at his body and found that all of his gear had been taken off his body, save for his mask. He felt a little naked without it. He was completely vulnerable and being taken far away from his family. 

Within a few hours, the plane landed and Leo was wheeled off and put into a transport truck. He tried to get loose again, but again failing. 

A few miles later, Leo was given a sedative, which he tried to fight, but it did its job and made his vision go out on him again. 

“Aren’t you going to knock him out?” One of the assistants asked. 

“I want him to see through blurry eyes for a while. I think I like him more like this.” Johnson said. “Take him to the surgery room. I want to get started right away with collecting fresh DNA and to get the project started as quickly as possible.” 

“Yes, Sir.”   
……………….

Leonardo saw spotty lights pass over him as he was wheeled down the hall. He didn’t remember leaving the transport van or seeing the building that they were in. He had no idea where he was. They then passed through some doors and the table stopped. He still saw the bright lights, but was too sedated to do anything other than close his eyes. 

“Where…?” Leo asked, his voice sticky due to the sedative. 

“Just relax.” He heard as he felt a band being tied around his left arm. It had blocked the blood flow. There was someone prodding on his arm and then he felt a sting as a needle pierced through to his vein. 

“Don’t…” Leo said weakly. 

“There, Sir. We have fresh DNA.” Leo heard. 

“Good. Now I will examine it and then the real work will begin.” 

“What about the turtle?” 

“Take him to his special room for now and tie him down.” Johnson ordered. “And keep him under sedation until further notice.” 

“Yes, Sir.” 

As Leonardo was wheeled out of the room, Johnson smiled at the vile of blood in his hand. He would compare it with Don’s and see what it held as Leonardo hadn’t been mutated. Then he would get to work on other things to get the project further under way.   
……………….

Leo was taken to a cell that had a bed in it and shackles around it. His limbs were untied and he was lifted off the table and carried to the bed. 

Leo could make it out a little bit. He felt he was being laid on a soft surface. Then he felt metal being placed on his hands and legs again. Then something soft was laid over him: a blanket. Then Leo felt a new sting in his right bicep. 

“Time to go to sleep for now, Turtle.” Leo heard. 

“No…” Leo said weakly, but it didn’t take long for the drug to make him drift off.   
…………………

Johnson got to work analyzing Leo’s blood and DNA flushed from it. There certainly was more of the right kind of things seen in Leonardo’s blood that hadn’t been seen in Donatello’s. This turtle was the one. 

Now, more certain types of DNA had to be collected to get this to work. He had access to all sorts of alien DNA here too and that would have to be part of it, but now, he also needed another certain part of Leonardo’s DNA to get started and it was much more complicated to get. He would worry about the alien and normal DNA first.   
……………….

Sometime later on, Johnson had all the DNA lines processed and ready, but it still needed the final part. A final component from the turtle.   
………………..

Leo had been sleeping for some time and was slowly beginning to come out of his sedation. 

A loud opening of his door made his head hurt. “Waking up I see. Sorry, Turtle. You are not going to be allowed to be fully awake for some time. But you are going to give us some more valuable DNA.” 

Leo thought they meant more blood as he was given more sedation, but he wasn’t entirely out. His vision remained blurry. Then he felt a sting in his one of his thighs, making his leg jerk in response. What did they want with him? 

And it didn’t take long for Leo to feel something down in his lower stomach. It got to be so uncomfortable that he finally had to release himself. He felt his member out in the air, erect. Then, something nice and warm was slipped onto it. 

The warmth was so enticing that it forced Leo to start thrusting. He churred and moaned with almost every thrust, he couldn’t help himself. 

Soon, Leo felt the final stage coming up and he let himself go. His seed came spurting into the AV collector. A good amount of it. Then Leo felt the warmth lift off of his member. Now that it was spent, it began to go back to normal. He pulled himself back in and then he was given another injection and he went back to sleep. 

“I think we have enough semen here. Now for the boss to find out if this turtle is fertile.” The AV holder said.   
.............................

As Johnson looked at Leo’s seed under his microscope, he saw they were moving about vigorously on their own and none looked abnormal. This was good and it was now the final part to the project. 

He collected 4 amounts of the DNA into 4 little vials and they were added to 4 eggs for full fertilization. Three of them had been DNA from Leo’s brothers in the past. 

When Johnson saw the egg cells starting to divide, he knew it was time to get them implanted into their host parent mixed with the alien DNA to help them along.   
…………….

Johnson went to see the sedated turtle. He had four good sized vials in his hands ready for injection. 

When he was let into Leonardo’s room, he found he was still asleep. Good. This would make it a lot less painful and much more surprising to the turtle when he woke up. 

An assistant was with him and pulled the blanket down, revealing the turtle’s body. He pulled it down to just over Leo’s legs. Then a machine was wheeled into the room. The bed was moved away from the wall and Leo’s arms were moved above his head. 

The machine was started up and the wand placed on Leo’s lower belly, trying to find some good spots for the embryos. 

A good spot was found on the right side first, and then two were injected in through the skin on Leo’s right side, then the other two were injected on the left side. 

“There, it’s all set into motion now.” Johnson said, feeling proud of himself. 

“But, why so many, Agent Johnson?” 

“Because if any fail, then at least maybe one or two will survive this pregnancy to term.” Johnson said. “And Agent Bishop needs them. There are some DNA from all the turtles in them, and some final DNA from Leonardo. These will be special babies. It took a lot of DNA combinations and they should make it to term. At least two should anyway.” 

“Are you sure that they will survive? This is a male turtle and has no uterus.” 

“He doesn’t need one. The combination with the alien DNA will take care of that. They’ll stay in his lower belly and make their own wombs to nourish the embryos.” 

“How long do you think he’ll carry then?” 

“Six to nine months, give or take, and Bishop gave me up to two years to do this project.” Johnson said. “It will work one way or the other. And the turtle is not to be harmed.” 

“Yes, Sir.” 

“And get him prepped for food intake while asleep. In case he has morning sickness, I don’t want him knowing about this pregnancy until we get him past the most dangerous time. Get him past his thirteenth week first, then wake him up. Keep him sedated until then.” Johnson ordered. 

“Yes, Sir.” 

After Johnson left, more assistants came in and wheeled the ultrasound machine out, but had some tubes in their hands. 

When they were done with Leo, he was hooked up to a few machines with tubes coming out of him. He had two tubes in his mouth, one for his stomach for feeding him, and the other to make sure he could breathe. He was going to be kept sedated for quite some time. And the third tube was for elimination purposes so he wouldn’t make a mess. It was all worked out. 

Leonardo would be well taken care of during the early part of his pregnancy.


	6. Chapter 6

Leo’s family was going crazy looking for him all over the city. It had been over two weeks since the tradeoff. Don’s leg was doing better so he was able to help his brothers and friends in the frantic search for Leo. 

Tracking down Bishop had turned up no leads. It was very disturbing. From what Don had said, they knew something terrible could be happening to Leo right now and they didn’t know where to find him. 

When they were home, Master Splinter had his sons preparing for the Battle Nexus Tournament. It was coming soon and he knew Leonardo would want to be part of it. He just hoped that they found him in time. They wouldn’t give up. They couldn’t give up.   
………………

When the day of the Battle Nexus had arrived and it had been over a month since Leo had been taken from them. The family had never found any clues on where to find Leo. Wherever he had been taken it was beyond the city. Master Splinter had even tried seeking Leo in the astral plane and could never find his spiritual essence. Something was wrong and they feared the worst.

Splinter was sure that his oldest son was still alive and they would one day find him, but they still had to live their lives. He knew that his son would want his family to move on and live out their lives the best they could without him. 

Raph had been deemed the new leader. Don was his second. None of Leo’s brothers were too happy without Leo around. Mikey still tried at times to make them happy, but he was often ignored or given a swat upside the head. Even though he tried to keep the others' spirits up, there were times that he too was miserable missing Leo. 

The boys reluctantly went to the Battle Nexus. There, they saw their friend, Usagi, the samurai rabbit. 

“Good to see you again, my friends.” Usagi greeted. 

“Hi, Usagi.” Don returned the greeting. 

Usagi looked at the number of turtles and masks, and then asked, “Where is Leonardo-san?” 

“He has been missing for over a month now. We don’t know where he is, but he was taken by some maniac doing something to him.” Mikey explained. “We know he wouldn’t want us to miss out on the tournament so we came.”

“I can come help look for him after the tournament.” Usagi offered. 

“I don’t think it would do any good. We can’t even find him.” Don said. “But thanks for the offer.” 

Usagi felt terrible that his best friend out of the turtles was gone, but he was still friends with his family. The battles went on. 

When the Daimyo and his son found out about Leo’s circumstances, they wished Splinter and his family well in their search for Leonardo. 

Mikey tried hard to hold onto the title of the Champion, but he was having trouble concentrating and he lost to his opponent. But his family couldn’t blame him. Though at the same time, they were glad he lost so he wouldn’t be bragging about it all the time anymore.   
……………..

After three long months of being asleep, Johnson gave the go-ahead for no more sedation drugs to be in Leo’s system and let him wake up when he was ready. 

They removed the tubes before he began to wake up. The less he knew the better. 

Over the course of the three months, Leo had been well fed and taken care of. His stomach was now a good bit swollen at 13 weeks. The embryos had been monitored weekly and they had all made it this far. 

Soon, Leo began to wake up and he found himself lying in a bed, covered up. He saw it wasn’t his own room. He felt something on his wrists and found that he had shackles on them. But now, they were just wrist bands, not shackles attached with chains to a wall. His legs were loose as well. 

“Where am I?” Leo asked. 

He went to get up off his bed and he felt a little woozy. He also noticed when he removed the blanket off of himself that his stomach was slightly bigger and rounder! He got up and he instantly felt the weight inside him and it threw him off balance. He screamed when he fell to the floor. 

The door instantly came open and a man rushed into the room. 

“What’s going on in here?!” The man demanded as he saw Leonardo on the floor, holding his stomach. 

“What happened?” Johnson asked as he followed the man into the room. He saw the turtle on the floor. “Get him up!” 

“Come on, Turtle, get up.” 

Leo groaned in pain as he was pulled to his feet. He was placed back on his bed. “What… what did you do to me?” Leo demanded to know. He was still struggling to breathe. “Did you overfeed me?” 

“Well, we did feed you a lot during these three months-” Johnson cut the man off with an elbow to the chest. 

Leo’s eyes widened. Three months! “I’ve been here for three months?” 

Johnson turned to him. “Yes and you are doing very well in my project.” 

“What is this project anyway?” Leo demanded. 

“That.” The man pointed. 

Leo immediately looked down at his stomach. He was still holding it from the weight it held and the little bit of pain that he felt in it. 

“I would never eat to the point of being fat and heavy. I’d starve myself before I’d let you fatten me up.” Leo said. 

“Now that you are past the most critical time, I had decided to finally wake you up and get you to start being yourself again. Though you will not be fighting or running around anytime soon. You have already felt the weight inside you.” Johnson explained. “You’re not fat by a normal means, Leonardo. And starving yourself wouldn’t be a good thing right now. You can eat by yourself when you’re fed, or we can force feed it to you through the tube again. You were tube fed while you were unconscious.” 

Leo just glared at him. 

“You wouldn’t abandon life, would you?” Johnson asked. 

“If it meant saving my family from monsters like you.” Leo answered. 

“No, I meant that you do care about new life, right?” 

“Yes.” Leo lifted an eye ridge, unsure where Johnson was going in the conversation.

“Well, do you know what I’m getting at?” The man pointed again at Leo’s belly. 

Leo’s eyes looked down again at his belly. Then he looked up at Johnson again. He kept a hand on his belly. “You- you don’t mean-?” 

“Yes, Leonardo. You know about the male seahorse, how it bears the young? Well, let’s say I’ve imposed the seahorse effect on you.” 

Leo was speechless. There was no way that this could be happening to him. 

“I’m- I’m… pregnant…?” Leo stuttered in shock. 

“Yes.”

This was all too much to take in. Suddenly, Leo fell back onto his bed as he fainted. 

Johnson came over and checked him over. He knew it was just the shock. He would get used to this, one way or another. There was no way that Leonardo was escaping this now. The man rubbed the turtle’s belly before having his men set Leo up to rest in bed to sleep off his fainting. But Johnson remained in the room to keep watch over him. 

Johnson had to get the turtle comfortable enough about this that he wasn’t going to hurt himself again when he woke up and he had to make him understand.   
……………..

Leonardo woke up a couple hours later, wondering if what had happened before had been a dream. When he removed the blanket over his body, he saw his stomach was indeed swollen. It hadn’t been a dream at all. 

“Nice to see you finally awoke again.” Leo heard a voice and looked to his right. 

There was Johnson sitting in a chair next to the bed. 

“Is it true?” Leo asked nervously. “I’m pregnant?” 

“Yes. It was no dream, Leonardo. Now, just try to relax. I know this is still a shock for you, but you will get used to it in time.” Johnson said. 

“Why? Why would you do this to me?” 

“Because my boss needs something new and fresh to benefit his work. And it’s my job to get it for him. And you will be the carrier of them.” 

“Them?” 

“Yes, you are carrying more than one.” 

“How many?” 

“We created four embryos in case one or two didn’t make it. And because of you being sedated for the first 3 months, we got you past the time of morning sickness at its worst. Now you are past the most critical in the pregnancy and all four have made it safely.” 

“Are… am I the father or am I just a carrier for aliens?” Leo demanded. 

“There is alien DNA to help make up the wombs nourishing the babies. And yes, you are a father to one of them. Your brothers are the fathers to the other three.” 

“But how could they be when they aren’t here?” 

“From old DNA that was saved. But your child was done more the old fashioned way.”

Leo would have never done that voluntarily which meant that they had raped him! 

“I came with you to release my brother, not to become a part of something this insane.” Leo said. 

“It may seem insane to you, but Agent Bishop needs the DNA from those babies to ensure he gets his mutant army to help defend the Earth.” 

“He won’t be harming any part of my family.” Leo began to tense. 

“I would be in charge of them, and I promise they won’t be killed, but there will be need to collect DNA from them from time to time.” 

Leo had just woken up and found out he was becoming a mother and a father, and this crazy man was telling him what was going to be done with his children. 

“I won’t let it happen.” Leo said. 

“By the time those babies are due you won’t be in any shape to stop us. And it will be awhile yet. Don’t get too attached to them. They are the government’s property, and now, so are you. There will be plenty of other opportunities for you.” 

Leo didn’t like the sound of that. He knew he needed to get out of there before that ever happened. 

“Oh, and we had been monitoring the babies weekly since they were conceived. It’s time to do that again.” 

Leo tensed and pulled himself to the wall. He brought his legs close to his body. “You aren’t touching me again!” He put his hands protectively over his swollen belly. 

“But don’t you want to see pictures of your precious babies?” 

“Not by you doing it.” 

“Leonardo, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. What’s it going to be?” Johnson demanded. 

Leo glared, “You aren’t touching me!” 

“Very well. The hard way then. Guards!” 

Leo tensed as more men came into his room. He normally would have jumped right up and fought, but he remembered his lack of balance earlier and wasn’t sure if he could maintain it. 

The humans came over to his bed and he kicked two of them away, but then, Johnson hit a button on a remote and Leo screamed in pain when his wrists began to burn. 

It gave the cue to the men to grab his arms, stay clear of his legs and pulled him down onto his back. 

“Agh! NO! Let me go!” Leo screamed in vain. 

The two men that Leo had kicked away wanted to pay the turtle back, but they knew they couldn’t hurt him. Johnson needed him in one piece to continue this project. 

Leo squirmed with all his might to try to get free, but he was held strong. His muscles had gotten weak during his 3 month long sleep. 

Shackles were placed upon his ankles and his arms were held above his head and chains were snapped onto the bands on his wrists. When he was let go, Leo lay there struggling, trying to get free. 

Then the door came open and Leo saw a huge machine being pushed in. He knew what it was. But if he could get loose, he could make a break for it out the open door. He tried harder. 

The machine was brought to the bed and Leo didn’t want to cooperate. 

“I need him to stop moving or I can’t do the exam.” The tech said. 

“Leonardo, stop moving.” 

“No! I won’t let you do it!” 

“This won’t hurt, Turtle. We just want to have a look at the babies.” 

“I know you want to and I won’t let you!” Leo said. 

“That does it!” One of the men that Leo had kicked snapped as he came forward. He pulled a syringe out and jammed it into Leo’s arm.

Leo winced in pain. 

“Let it take effect, then do the exam.” The man said as he withdrew the needle, leaving a little blood coming from the small wound. 

Leo continued squirming until he felt his body going numb on him. ‘No! This can’t be happening!’ Leo thought to himself. 

Ten minutes later, Leo was lying on the bed, glaring up at the men. He was shocked he was still awake, but he couldn’t move his body. 

“Now do the exam. He’s not going to do anything.” 

The tech began prepping Leo’s stomach for an ultrasound. 

Leo watched their every move. He watched as a tube was brought over his stomach and squeezed. Some warm gel came out and Leo felt it. Then he saw the wand being prepped. It was placed on the gel and the tech turned on the computer. 

The computer wasn’t facing Leo’s head, so he couldn’t see anything. 

“Even if you don’t want to see them, I do.” Johnson said. 

Leo glared at him. He could feel the wand moving around on his belly. 

“There’s the first one.” Johnson said. 

The wand was moved over. “And the second.” 

And it was moved over two more times. “And the third and fourth.” 

Leonardo couldn’t believe this was happening to him. He was helpless to do anything. He could only stare up at the ceiling. 

“Turn on the sound.” Johnson ordered. 

The tech turned on the sound and all of a sudden, the room was filled with the heartbeat of one of the babies. 

Leo couldn’t believe his ears. It made him bring his head toward the computer. He looked down at his stomach. He couldn’t believe that sound was coming from inside him. 

Johnson nodded to the tech and he moved the wand over and there was a second heartbeat. And the final two hearts were listened to as well. 

“Here, Turtle. Have a look at the little things that you apparently didn’t want anything to do with.” The tech said. 

Leo was shocked silent as the computer was turned toward him. He saw on screen one of the babies. “I never said that! I just didn’t want you touching me!” 

The pregnant turtle saw the baby’s body. “There’s the heart going. The little hand, head, shell, legs, spine, tail.” The tech said, pointing out the body parts. 

Leo’s eyes softened and he knew there were three more little ones like it inside him, counting on him to protect them from these enemies. He knew in this moment that he had to find a way to escape. 

Then the machine was turned off and Leo’s stomach was toweled off. 

“Turn him loose. You better get used to this done weekly, Leonardo. It will be done, and we can do this every time and your stomach is only going to get bigger over the coming months.” Johnson said. 

Leo’s eyes gave a glare. 

The men released his hands and legs from their bonds, but he still couldn’t move them. 

“Your body will regain movement within a half hour. And don’t worry, the drug didn’t harm the little ones in there.” Johnson said. 

“You don’t know that!” 

“I saw them moving inside you. So they were not harmed.” 

Leo looked down. Movement? What was that going to feel like? 

The humans left Leo alone after they put his arms back down over his belly. Johnson was sure that after the exam, he would want to have his hands there. 

Leo could only move his head. He looked down at his belly. He had just found out about all of it and he was still in shock that it was happening to him. And he had missed out on three months! He had to get out of there. Or if he turned into too much trouble for them, more than likely they could sedate him again and take the babies without him knowing. 

As promised, Leo soon regained feeling in his body again and he sat up. If he was going to get out of there, he needed to formulate a plan. But he would be lucky if he was ever allowed out of this room. 

A few hours later, one man came into the room with a tray of food and a glass of water. “Time to eat up, Turtle. Gave you something gentle so you can get used to eating solid foods again. And you have 4 little ones to feed as well. You might want to eat all this.” He said and left the tray and water on the shelf in the room. 

Leo didn’t move at first, but he did feel hungry. He slowly got up off the bed and went over to see what was being served. 

The plate had four pieces of toast, some soup, and some oatmeal. It was quite the meal. 

He might not have usually eaten that much at home, but now, he had four other stomachs to feed besides his own. He just hoped he would be able to keep it all down. 

Leo was able to walk like his normal self. He took the tray back to his bed and slowly began eating the food. He knew he would need as much nutrition as he could get and the babies would steal it from his body if they didn’t get the right amount. He knew he had to build up some muscle and strength again too for the escape. There was just a lot that he needed to be prepared for, and he hoped he could pull it off by himself in his condition.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day, Leo was awoken early in the morning for his breakfast. He was bored after that, so he managed to get himself comfortable on the bed and tried some meditation. He had to try to reach out to his family somehow, or simply clear his head. 

But it wasn’t long before his meditation was interrupted by two men entering the room. “Come with us, Turtle. Agent Johnson wants you to get some air and light.” 

Leo’s eyes widened. This could be a chance to escape! 

“Sure.” Leo said and slowly got off the bed. 

“Don’t give us any trouble now, or you won’t get this opportunity again.” One man warned him. 

As he got up to the men, his arms were grabbed and pulled behind his back. The bonds on his wrists were connected with a special lock. “Now move out.” 

Leo knew he needed to get the bonds off his wrists if he wanted to escape. But he walked on with the men, biding his time. 

Soon, they came to a place outside. It was a very picturesque area. It had four high walls but had grass, flowers, one tree in the middle, and a pool. 

“Enjoy the freedom while you have it. Soon, you will be exercised.” The other man said as he and his partner left Leo alone in the area. 

Once he was locked in, the cuffs were released and he could explore the area more freely. Leo looked around and looked for any signs of weakness that he could take advantage of. There were a few benches throughout the area. He went over and sat down on the one in front of the pool. 

He looked down at his reflection in the water and saw it definitely looked different with a bulging belly. He wondered how this pregnancy was really going to affect him other than getting fat. He wanted to have these babies in the comfort of his family, not in the compound. 

Leo soaked up some rays from the sun for a little while then went into the water to try to see if there was a way out under the water, but found there wasn’t. It was just deep enough for him to submerge his body and that was it. It was a warm day out and a good day to enjoy the water. 

He wasn’t in for long before he got out and let the sun dry his body. He meditated and tried to reach out to his father once again. If he could find him. 

But that too was interrupted when two different men entered the yard. “Time in the yard is over. Now it’s time for your exercise.” 

Exercise? 

Once again, Leo was escorted with his hands restrained, but to a gym this time. Johnson was waiting for him. 

“What are you going to have me do? You said I wasn’t going to be doing anything.” Leo said. 

“I meant fighting. You didn’t think I was going to let you sit all day and do nothing, did you? Even pregnant people need some exercise. You will be doing some simple walking exercises. Fast and slow, so we can see how much you can handle. If you get dizzy or need a rest, just say so. Pregnancy can easily make you tired and you can lose balance at times as well. So just be aware. And afterwards, you can have your lunch and an afternoon nap.” 

“Nap? I’m not a 5 year old.” 

Johnson laughed, “Believe me when I say the pregnancy will make you tired. You’ll be allowed out of your room to do things as long as you behave. We can always make you stay in your room with nothing to do.” Johnson said. 

“Fine. Let’s just do this. I’m aching for some exercise.” Leo said. 

Johnson first had him get on the treadmill. Leo’s hands were released so he could hold on to the handles. Johnson started the treadmill on low and Leo started walking then they began to work him up to a faster pace to get his heart rate going up. But he wasn’t forced to run. 

Leo was glad he wasn’t forced to run. He had been walking for about thirty minutes and he was already sweating and panting hard. He felt dizzy in the head. He also had a little pain in his stomach. 

“I think it’s time to stop for now. Here, have a drink.” Johnson gave Leo a bottle of water. 

The turtle gladly downed the water. 

“Drink it slowly.” 

Leo was parched but he did as he was instructed and slowed down as he drank all of it. 

“It’s too soon after waking up for you to take a full force workout. We’ll take it slow and just keep you in shape throughout the pregnancy until it’s time to stop.” 

“What do you mean, time to stop?” Leo asked. 

“With those four babies, soon, the weight of them will make you have to stop all exercise.” 

Leonardo didn’t want to think about it, but carrying these babies would make him have to do that. He would feel bored out of his mind. 

Once Leo was cooled off and got his breath back, he was taken back to his room where he was allowed to eat his lunch. And after that, Johnson was right, Leo did need a nap. 

Exhausted, he fell asleep nearly instantly. He had never felt like this before. 

At nearly sundown, some more food was brought in for him, along with some books to see if he might want to read for a while. 

Leo knew that these humans were going to be feeding him quite well and to get him to fatten up sooner he was sure. He didn’t want to fatten up, but the babies would make him. 

After dinner, he tried to read articles in the books before he tried once again to meditate. But that too was interrupted when men came in for the tray. 

Why did these humans have perfect timing to interrupt his meditations?! 

Then it was time for bed. He lay on his bed, trying to formulate a plan to get out of there. He needed to get out of there while the babies were still small. If he waited too much longer, then the babies would be too big and hold him down more. 

As much as Leo had hated that this pregnancy had been forced on him, there was nothing he could do. He wouldn’t abandon such innocent little beings to the fate of what Bishop wanted to do with them.   
……………..

After more than three months of Leo missing, Leo’s family was sure he was still out there, alive, but they would be lucky if they would ever see him again. 

Don felt the most guilty that Leo had had to take his place when he had been set free. He tried looking for him on the Internet constantly. He wasn’t giving up. 

Raph had looked through practically the whole city by now, taking down enemies in his path. But he never came across any commandoes. Casey often helped him as well, but he too turned up nothing on Leo. 

Mikey did his best to try to keep the others happy, but it didn’t always work. But they did respect him enough that he would keep them fed. 

Master Splinter kept on trying to sense his son’s presence in the astral plane. He could never get him to talk, but he sensed he was out there. 

April did her best to assist Don in trying to track Leo down, but she too couldn’t find anything.

Bishop was not an easy man to find. Some of the last places that Bishop had been found were through a train and a helicopter that had belonged to him. But those places had been destroyed, and after the battle with the Tengu Shredder, Bishop had left the area again. Now they didn’t know where to look, but they would keep on trying. 

Their main hope was that Leo would escape Bishop’s clutches and make his way home.


	8. Chapter 8

Three weeks passed and Leo had seen enough of the place that he had formulated a plan to escape. The humans had him on a daily schedule and he quickly fell into a routine. It helped him to regain his strength. 

He was up in the mornings by 8, they brought him his breakfast, they had him relax in the yard for a while to let his food digest, then it was exercise time to keep him in shape. Exercise was just walking, of course, and some light weight lifting. After that he had lunch, an afternoon nap, more time in the yard, swimming exercises, a bath in the evening every few days, go back to his room and dinner, and then it was time to settle down with reading before bed at 9. And of course, Leo was only let out in the yard on nice weather days. 

His captors had come in to examine the babies two more times. It was done weekly as Johnson had said it would be. Leo had resisted one more time and after the consequences the second time, he cooperated the third time. He hated being wrestled onto his back and held down. It put stress on him and the babies and that wasn’t good for any of them. 

It was the day for another exam. Leo was in his room when the humans came wheeling the machine into his room. 

“You want to go through this again?” 

Leo saw the needles ready and there were several officers standing ready should he try to fight or run. 

“No.” Leo said, and he laid back. 

“Good turtle.” 

Leo still watched everything the tech did. He rested his hands on his chest. 

The man put the gel on Leo’s swollen stomach, turned on the computer and put the wand on his belly. 

Leo did want to see them. 

The man moved the wand around, looking for all four fetuses. He found all four, but when he got to the fourth, on Leo’s upper left, he found that something was wrong with that fetus.   
Leo saw a look pass the man’s face. 

The tech suddenly took the wand off Leo’s belly and put it down and got up. “Make sure he stays that way.” He said on his way out. 

The head guard nodded as the tech left the room.

Leo was left wondering what was going on. With the guards in there, he wasn’t allowed to move from his position. 

Within a short time, the tech came back in with Johnson. 

“Ok, show me.” Johnson said, and the tech sat down and picked up the wand again and placed it back on Leo’s belly. The gel was cold by now, making Leo shiver. 

The tech moved the wand all over Leo’s belly again until he came upon the upper left spot. Johnson looked carefully at the image on the screen. 

“Play the hearts.” Johnson ordered. 

The tech played the hearts and he moved them all around again, but coming up to the fourth, it signaled a problem. 

“What’s wrong?” Leo asked nervously. 

The tech and Johnson looked at the pregnant turtle, concerned. 

“There’s a problem, Leonardo.” Johnson said. 

“What is it?” Leo demanded. “Tell me.” 

“We can’t find a heartbeat on the fourth baby.” Johnson said. 

“What?!” Leo shouted and sat up.

“Lie down, Turtle.” The tech snapped.

“I want to know what happened!” Leo said through gritted teeth as he was pushed back down. 

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out and we could if you would lie down.” The tech said grumpily. 

“Leonardo, please lie down.” Johnson said, in an attempt to soothe. 

Leo’s breathing had picked up, but he laid back down, allowing the exam to continue. 

After further examination, it was revealed the alien placenta had ruptured and the baby had died. Each of the babies had their own placentas created from alien DNA, but all the babies were mutant turtles. 

“Leonardo, we regret to tell you that the fourth baby is dead.” Johnson said in conclusion. 

Leo lay there, shocked. This couldn’t be happening! 

“So what happens now, Boss?” A guard asked. 

Johnson looked at the guard. “We have to take the baby out.” 

Leo’s eyes snapped up at Johnson’s words. “What?” 

“We have to take that baby out, Leonardo.” Johnson repeated, pointing to the spot where the dead baby was. 

Leo got tense and raised himself on his elbows. “Don’t do it, please.” 

“Leonardo, we’ve got to. If it stays inside your body, it will decompose and it could make you sick as well as possibly harm the other babies. And I need you well to be able to take care of the remaining three. There’s always been a chance one of them would die. There are still three good ones.” Johnson explained. 

The tech had by now removed the wand off of Leo’s belly. The scared turtle made a mad dash to get up and run, but the guards caught him. 

“No! Let me go!” Leo cried out. Tears were in his eyes now at the news he had failed one of the babies. 

“Take him to the surgery room immediately.” Johnson ordered. 

The guards nodded and pulled on Leo’s arms, guiding him out of his room. 

“NO! Don’t do this to me!” Leo was yelling all the way. He still had gel on his stomach, but that was the last thing on his mind. 

He was pulled to the surgery room and forced to get onto a surgical table where he kept on struggling. His arms and legs were tied down. Then Johnson and the ultrasound tech came in with the machine again. 

“How soon do we begin the surgery?” The tech asked. 

“As soon as we pinpoint where that baby is and we begin.” Johnson said. “Get Leonardo knocked out first.” 

“NO! I won’t let you take my baby!” Leo cried angrily, the tears now flowing down his face. 

The men paid him no attention. This was the typical reaction of a ‘mother’ in their eyes, but the baby needed to come out. 

Leo struggled to get loose. He knew he needed to get out of there now more than ever. 

“How long do you think the baby’s been dead?” Johnson asked the tech.

“Hard to say until it’s out of the turtle’s body.” The tech replied with a shrug while he worked. “But probably not too long, or the turtle would be sick by now.” 

Johnson and some other men in the room got themselves wrapped in scrubs and washed their hands. Leo watched them. Then one of them prepared a syringe and prepped Leo’s right arm and put an IV in the vein. Then another man put a mask on over Leo’s mouth and nose. 

Leo tried to keep his face out of it, but his head was held in place by another man. Then he was given the sedation drug. 

The pregnant turtle tried to fight the sleep taking over, but it didn’t take long for it to take him under. 

The tech put the wand back on Leo’s gelled belly and located the baby. It still showed no signs of a heartbeat. 

After marking where the dead baby was, the tech turned off the machine and got out of the room to let the surgeons do their work. 

Leo’s stomach was cleaned off from the gel and was then sterilized for surgery. 

Before it began, Johnson felt Leo’s plastron and looked at his side in between the carapace and plastron. 

“Wait. Before we open up the golden shell, though the stomach is stretching out, the turtle will make a faster recovery with an opening in the skin. His side is a good size to make an incision and get this baby out of him. It’s not that big yet.” Johnson explained his idea. 

“He’s your subject and patient, Agent Johnson. Whatever you want to do.” A surgeon said. 

“Sterilize his left side and move his left arm up.” Johnson ordered. 

“Yes, Sir.” 

Leo’s left side was then cleaned up after his arm had been lifted above his head. With Leo asleep, he was turned onto his right side. Then surgical sheets were put over his body. 

The head surgeon had a scalpel in his hand ready to cut while another by him was ready with a tool to suck up blood. Johnson was keeping track of Leo’s vitals. 

The head surgeon cut carefully into the flesh of Leo’s side and went deeper. The other surgeon sucked up the blood that came to the surface. 

The head surgeon felt around and opened up the wound in the turtle’s side. He saw some internal organs, but going to the front of the belly, he reached in and found the fetus in its womb and his assistant cut off the womb from the other ones, and pulled the womb and baby out. 

Leo’s vitals were holding strong. 

A third surgeon in the room came forward and took the baby from the head surgeon. He took it over to a table and began dissecting the womb. He cut it open and took the baby turtle out. 

“What are we going to do with the baby?” He asked. 

“It might still have enough DNA in it to be used. But I’m sure Leonardo’s going to want to see it too.” Johnson said. 

“Are you going to let him see it?” 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Johnson said. “But keep it on standby for now.” 

“Very well.” 

The head surgeon went on making sure everything was set to heal internally before sewing Leo’s tissues and skin back up. Then he was turned back onto his back gently, to make sure that the other babies wouldn’t be disturbed. 

“He still has three good ones.” 

“Yep.” The assistant said. 

Leonardo was taken back to his room to recuperate. 

Once back in the room, Leo’s limbs were kept restrained until he could be trusted enough. He still had the IV in, a pulse monitor on one finger, and the oxygen mask on his face. 

The stitched wound on his side was bandaged up. A gauze piece covered it, and then some pieces of tape were placed over it on the skin and some of the plastron to keep it in place. It was now set to heal. But Leo’s mind was going to be much more fragile in this ‘maternal’ state.   
……………….

Leo woke up a little later. He groaned. He felt he had something on his face and opened his eyes, blinking them to get them to focus. He tried to raise his hands, but couldn’t. He began to struggle, moaning. 

“It’s alright, Leonardo. Hold still and I’ll take it off.” Johnson appeared in his field of vision. 

“What happened?” Leo asked as the mask was removed. He raised his head and saw a swelling beneath his blanket. 

“I’m sorry to say that one of your babies died and we had to perform surgery to get it out before it caused any problems.” Johnson explained. He had been waiting for Leo to wake up. 

It all came back to Leo. He couldn’t believe it. Tears welled in his eyes. 

“I remember. Can I… see it?” Leo asked. 

“I figured you would. I kept it on standby.” Johnson said and then he pressed a button. 

Leo raised his head as a bassinet was wheeled in. 

“The baby is very tiny. Its only 16 weeks along, Leonardo. So don’t be too shocked when you see it. We’re not even sure if it’s a boy or girl.” Johnson said and he picked up a small toweled bundle out of the bassinet. 

Leo had a worried look on his face as he saw the little bundle being brought toward him. 

Johnson pressed another button on his remote. “You can move your hands now.” He said. “But no attacking if you want to see the baby.” The man stopped. “Deal?”

“Deal.” 

“Good.” Johnson now brought the bundle close to Leo and Leo instantly raised his arms. He was supported by a few pillows. The bundle was placed into Leo’s arms. 

He looked down at the little face peeking out. It was nearly fully formed, but so tiny. It was only 4 to 4 ½ inches long. Tears welled and began to fall. This was his child. 

Leo sobbed. “What happened that caused… him to die?” 

“The placenta ruptured from its womb. Since you don’t naturally have a womb, that’s why you didn’t know, and that’s why we have to monitor these babies every week, to make sure they are alive.” Johnson explained. 

“Was it something I did?” Leo asked. 

“We don’t know.” The man said. “I’ll leave you alone for a while and when I come back, we’ll get the IV taken out.” Then he left. 

Leo couldn’t believe he was looking at his poor baby. It didn’t have a chance in the outside world right now. He broke down, crying. 

Being in this experimental place was so lonely for Leo and these babies were all he had for family, and he had lost one already. 

When he caught his breath again, he asked, “Why did this happen to you, Little One? What did I do? Was this some sort of punishment for something I did?” 

Leo then proceeded to open up the towel to take a look at the little turtle’s body. He had to know what everything looked like. 

It was hard to take in. Organs could be seen a bit through the wrinkly skin. The eyes were still fused shut. The hands had the same number of fingers, and the feet the same number of toes as him. Then Leo tried to see the little tail to see if he could see the sex. With it being so tiny, it was hard to tell, but Leo looked real hard. He recognized the color on the baby too. It seemed to have Raph’s coloring. 

As Leo looked real hard at the tail, to him, it looked like a female to him. “I guess you are my brother, Raphael’s daughter. Even though you will never get to experience life with your father or me, I will still give you a name, Little One. I’ll call you Rachel, a close name to your father’s.” 

Leo wrapped Rachel back up. He gave her a kiss and broke down again.   
……………..

An hour later, the door opened back up again. Leo looked up. It was a couple of officers this time. 

“What do you want?” Leo demanded. He clutched the bundle tightly to himself. 

“We came for that little bundle in your arms, Turtle. And to get the IV out of your arm.” One said. 

“Go on and take the IV out, but you can’t have my baby.” Leo held her even tighter. 

“Oh yes, we can.” 

The officers came forward without hesitation. 

Leo tried to move away from them, but winced at the pain in his side. That gave the officers the perfect chance. 

One seized the bundle in Leo’s arms while the other grabbed Leo’s wrists. 

“NO! Don’t take her from me!” Leo cried out. 

The man who had seized the baby put it back into the bassinet and wheeled it out. 

“Where are you taking her?! Don’t harm her! Bring her back!” Leo continued calling out, tears streaming. 

“Excuse me, her?” A voice said. 

Leo looked angrily at the doorway. Johnson stood there. “Yes. It was a girl! Bring her back! What are you going to do with her?” He demanded angrily. 

“Nice to know you could tell the sex. Well, she’s dead, Leonardo. She will have some DNA taken from her like what was planned and being so tiny and not formed or alive, her body will be disposed of.” Johnson explained. 

“NO! You can’t do that!” Leo glared and yelled angrily. 

“Sorry, but it’s going to be done, Leonardo. Now you need to calm down. You still need to take care of the remaining triplets. Stress is not good for them.” Johnson said. “Hold him down and get the IV out.” 

“Yes, Sir.” 

Leo struggled as he was held down and the IV removed from his arm. Then the restraints were used to hold his arms down until the officers were out of the room, then he was released. 

“Rachel!” Leo cried out. He slowly got out of his bed, being careful of his wounded side. He now saw it. He moved to the door and opened up the porthole in it. 

“I want my daughter back!” But no one answered his cries. 

Leo sat down on the floor and cried until he couldn’t cry anymore.


	9. Chapter 9

After they had taken his baby, Leonardo didn’t allow anyone, not even Johnson in to see him without a fight. 

He punched several men and it angered them to the point that they wanted to have the turtle punished, and in the end, Johnson did have Leo punished. He wasn’t allowed out of his room for anything. It was even hard for Leo to feel like wanting to eat, but he knew he had to eat to keep on caring for the three that needed him. 

It had now been a week and it was time for another exam on the babies. 

Leo was so sick of the exams. His hands were restrained, only this time, he was taken to the tech’s room for his ultrasound. 

He grumpily got on the bed and lay down. His hands were released so they could be raised above his head and then they were tied to the wall. 

Going over his belly, the tech saw the babies, then he came across one of the babies on the right side, and the look said it all: another problem. 

The man looked at the pregnant turtle. “You shouldn’t have been fighting us!” 

Leo looked at him with a stunned expression. 

“You did this!” The man pointed out and turned the computer toward Leo. “This baby, right here,” where the wand was on Leo’s lower right side of his stomach, “is now dead too!” 

“WHAT?!” Leo yelled. 

Johnson came in to see how the babies were doing. 

Leo looked up at the agent. “Please… tell me he’s wrong. Tell me my babies are all okay.” Leo pleaded with a sad look in his eyes. 

“See, Agent Johnson. These two have hearts. This one down here does not.” The tech showed Johnson. 

“I’m afraid he’s right, Leonardo. There was a second one.” 

“No.” Leo shook his head. 

“Yes, and you know what that means.” Johnson said. 

“NOOOO!” Leo screamed as he began to squirm. 

“You see, all the stress has killed your second baby!” The tech scolded again. 

“That’s enough! He doesn’t need more stress. Just get him to the surgical room and get it done with.” Johnson ordered. 

“NOOO!” Leo screamed again. 

Some more men came in and got Leo restrained and took him to the surgical room again.   
……………….

Once again, Leo fought until they knocked him out. Then they took the stitches out in his left side. 

The baby to be removed was the one on the lower right side. Everything that had been done a week ago was done on the right side and with the baby. 

This time, it was deemed that Leo’s stress level had done the job. 

When he woke up again, Leo was so overcome with grief that he cried some more. Now he just had two left. This time, he was not allowed to see the baby, which made it even worse.   
…………………..

A week later, there was another ultrasound, at 18 weeks along, and both the remaining ones were just fine. 

Leo breathed a sigh of relief. He then allowed the stitches in his right side to be removed without a fight. 

After being taken to the yard, he knew he had to get out of that dreadful place. He had two babies left. He didn’t want them being born there. He hadn’t even gotten to see the last one as punishment for his acting up in anger for Rachel. So he had no idea who the father of the baby was. 

He knew his way enough around the place that he was finally ready for his escape to take place. He had been told one time he was in Nebraska. He had a long way to go to get home, but he would get there before the twins came. 

While he was in the yard, when he was under the water, he tried to get the cuffs off his wrists. He knew that using water could be a good way to try to loosen them. He wished he would have done it weeks ago, but he didn’t know his way around this place all those weeks ago. And for the last two and a half weeks, he had required medical care to save his life from two babies that had died inside him. He didn’t want anything to happen to the last two. 

He couldn’t get the cuffs off at the moment, but when the men came for him, he would make sure he got them off. 

Soon, it was time to go in again and when Leo approached them, he instantly attacked the one who had the remote. It flung out of his hand when he hit the ground, unconscious. The other guy tried going for it at the same time as Leo. 

Leo got to it first, and then he kicked the other guy in the stomach, then in the face. Then he hit the button that got rid of the cuffs on his wrists. 

With his wrists free, Leonardo ran for the doors and through the building. He had built up enough strength, but he still held his stomach for support. “We’re getting out of here finally, kids.” He said. He did think for a moment that he wanted to go find his dead kids’ bodies, but if he was going to get out of there, he just didn’t have time and he was sure their bodies were disposed of by now. 

Leo kept the remote in his other hand as he ran through the building while supporting his belly with the other. The extra weight in his stomach made it hard to breathe at times and Leo often had to take deep breaths as he ran through the building. 

Johnson soon found out about Leo’s escape and the place was on high alert. 

Leo hit many men on his way out. He was determined to get out of that place. 

Soon, he did reach the front and he got through the front door just as armor plating was coming down to try to prevent his escape. 

“Ngh!” Leo winced when he was finally outside in the parking lot. “We made it, kids!” He had a smile on and was breathing hard. But he knew there was no rest for the weary. 

He saw a lot of black cars out there, but he also saw a helicopter. He decided to run to the helicopter, hopped in, and started it up. 

The chopper started up and it seemed to take forever for the blades to get going fast enough for lift off as a lot of commandoes made their way out of the building. 

“Agh!” Leo grimaced. 

Several of the humans tried to get him out, but he kicked them away and he closed the door before they started firing darts at him. He finally hit lift off and he was out of there!

Johnson came running up with a mad look on his face. “Leonardo!” He yelled. 

Leo was quite pleased seeing the look on Johnson’s face, now that he was free of him.   
……………..

With a heavy heart, Johnson called Agent Bishop and he told him that backup was needed for tracking a helicopter with a ninja turtle in it. 

Bishop complied and backup was sent on the way.


	10. Chapter 10

Leo had to figure out a way to get out of Nebraska. On top of that, he needed to ditch the chopper before long as well. Surely, the commandoes would come looking for him and he didn’t know where in Nebraska that he was in. 

He flew it for a little while, then found some woods and he noticed it was getting low on fuel. He knew he would have to land it. It had just enough left to make it to a clearing in the trees. Leo had seen a small town close by before he landed. He knew he could get some food there and find out where he was. He left the chopper to its fate. 

But before he would make his trip to the town, he had to sit down and rest for a little bit. Leo knew that he was exhausted. That had been a hard escape, but it had worked. He just hoped his last two babies would survive the trip. 

He walked a good distance away from the chopper before he found a safe place to rest. As he sat down, he started taking deep breaths and looked down at his stomach. He put a hand on it. 

Ever since his two surgeries to get rid of the two that had died, his stomach had gone down a bit more. Twins were a more reasonable multiple number to carry closer to full term anyway. But Leo still felt sad about losing Rachel and her sibling. The scars on his sides were still fresh and showing too. 

When Leo caught his breath again, he got up and trudged on toward the town. He had to find a way to get food, water, and a place to rest. 

The sun was setting when he made it to the town and his stomach was growling fiercely. “Food will have to wait, Little Ones.” Leo said. “Until I can find a place for us to stay.” He rubbed his belly. 

He wandered further into town without being seen and he came to a section of abandoned buildings. He found one that didn’t seem too torn apart. 

It was empty and when he went upstairs, he found there was a bed up there. 

Leo wanted desperately to fall asleep, but he needed to get some food for himself and the twins. He waited until the sun went down, and then went into the town to find a store. He had managed to find disguise in one of the closets that fit over his shell. Someone had unfortunately left some clothes behind, lucky for him. 

He soon found a gas station. He could smell some tantalizing foods coming from the place, but he knew he couldn’t just barge right in and help himself. 

Leo sat in a place where he saw a clock. It was well after 10 before they finally closed and the shopkeeper was just closing up when some strange men came up behind her. He didn't like the look of them. He crept closer, just in case.

This girl was about 5’4, with reddish brown hair, green eyes, a slim figure, had a green t-shirt on, and some blue jeans. 

“Hey sweet thing, where are you going?” One tall, blonde man asked her. 

“Home, you dope.” She said. “Now leave me alone. It’s late.” 

“Oh, she’s disrespecting us.” The black haired guy said. 

“You’re coming with us, sweet thing.” The blonde said and he and his companion grabbed her and were pulling her towards their van. 

“I think you heard the lady say to leave her alone.” A male voice came out of nowhere. 

“Who said that?” The black haired guy said. They all had stopped and turned at the voice. 

“I did.” Leo said. He was grateful that he was in a disguise. The last thing he needed was some locals reporting a large talking turtle to the authorities. Johnson would surly find him then. 

“Go home, Mister. This lady owes us a date.” 

“I don’t owe you anything!” She said, struggling against their grip. 

“Shut up, bitch!” 

“I said, let her go.” Leo demanded again. 

“And what are you going to do if we don’t?” 

Leo began jumping hands over feet towards the tramps and he kicked them both in the head, making them fly back, falling unconscious instantly. 

The girl suddenly looked at Leo with sudden shock. 

“You!”

Leo knew that he couldn’t stay so he turned to run.

“Wait! You saved my life. Who are you?” She asked. 

“It’s not important. I need to be on my way.” He said over his shoulder. 

“But did you want something? Anything, it’s yours.” She said. 

“I could use some food and supplies. I am completely broke and I don’t have any money, Miss.” 

“It’s on the house for saving me.” She smiled. “I’m going back inside to call the police.” 

Reluctantly, Leo followed her inside. 

“My name is Allison. What’s yours?” 

“Leonardo.” 

“Thanks, Leonardo. Anything you want, it’s yours.” 

“Thank you, Allison.” 

“It would be nice to see my hero’s face. Do you think you can take the hat off?” Allison asked, tilting her head in an attempt to get a better look. 

“Uh, before that happens, Allison, you have to know, you have to keep an open mind. How do you feel about turtles?” He asked nervously, doing his best to stay hidden. 

“Turtles? I think they are noble creatures. Why?” 

“Because I’m not a normal human. Now, please don’t scream.” Leo said. 

He slowly and nervously took off the hat covering his head. 

Allison gasped. 

“Please… don’t…” Leo said, raising a hand. 

Allison didn’t scream, but asked, “What are you?” She saw that her savior was indeed not human. She also noticed the number of fingers on his hand when he held it up. 

“I’m a mutant turtle. I’ll tell you the story later, but right now, you need to call the police about those punks trying to abuse you.” Leo said. 

“Yeah, right.” Allison said and rushed over to call the police. “Just don’t leave.”

Once Allison completed her call, Leo asked, “Do you have somewhere I can hide? I can’t be seen by anyone.” 

“The bathroom. But for now, you can stay here till they get here. You’re coming home with me, Mister Leonardo.” She said. 

Leo’s eye ridges went up. “Thanks for your hospitality, but I just need some supplies to keep me going on my way home.” 

“You look exhausted, Leonardo. You need a place to rest up before you continue on your journey.” 

“You can call me Leo.” Leo said. 

“My friends call me Ali.” 

The police car had just arrived with its flashing lights and Leo ran for the bathroom before he could be seen. 

Ali talked to the police about the two punks and they were both arrested. She made sure to leave Leo out of the story. She just said a stranger stopped them and ran off. 

The police got their statement and left with the two possible rapists. 

Allison was grateful when they left. She went to find Leo, to tell him it was safe to come out. 

When she entered the bathroom, she found him on the floor, holding his stomach and breathing hard. 

“Leo! What’s wrong?!” She ran to his side. 

“Oh! My stomach! I hope nothing’s wrong!” 

“The nearest vet clinic is another town away and closed for the night.” Ali said. 

“I think I’ll be fine, it was just painful gas.” Leo faked a smile. 

“I doubt that.” She said. “If you’re ok, can you get to your feet?” 

“I may need a hand up.” 

She gladly extended her hand to help him up.

They both went out to her car and got in. Then they took off for her house.   
………………….

Bishop’s commandoes had landed in the area and were looking for the pregnant turtle. They had found the stolen chopper, but no sign of Leonardo. Perhaps he had headed to the town over the hill looking for a place to stay, as well as he would be looking for food and supplies. They would ask around in the morning. But they knew that Leo was a ninja and would usually avoid being seen by humans unless some others were hurting another.   
…………………..

When Leo got into Ali’s house, he found it smelled beautiful. Like strawberries and vanilla. It was a white one story home. It had three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was beautiful. 

“Leo, do you want me to take your coat?” Ali asked. 

“Ok. Yeah, I don’t always usually wear clothes, but it was more for a disguise than anything.” He said as he slipped off his coat. 

As he slipped it off, Ali saw the outline of his body was indeed turtle. Then she noticed the swelling in his belly. 

“I can also see why you’re exhausted. People who have bigger stomachs also get tired more easily.” 

Leo instantly put his hands on his stomach. “What are you saying? That I’m… fat?” 

“I hope you aren’t taking it personally. But you were exhausted following the fight.” 

“Allison, there’s something you need to know about this. I’m not fat. I am a guy, yes, but I just escaped from a government place that was doing an experiment on me. I’m… actually… pregnant.” Leo reluctantly said. “I lost two of them recently. I can’t afford to lose these two.” 

Ali was quite surprised. “So… you belong to the government?” 

“No! They just had me. They don’t own me. They had captured me back in New York when I was saving a brother of mine. They’d had me for a few months making sure to see if this pregnancy was going to work out.” 

Leo proceeded to tell Ali the whole story of his life. She seemed trustworthy enough. Afterward, she gave him a good meal, which he was more than grateful for. He had seen a certain look in her eyes that said he should trust his gut about her, that she wouldn't turn him in. 

She let him use the other bathroom to clean himself up, and he slept in the one of the guest rooms. He was asleep the instant he hit the pillow. It had been a LONG day.


	11. Chapter 11

Leo was still an early riser, and for the first time in months, sunshine woke him up in the morning. He moaned and slowly opened his eyes to see that he was not in his room at home, or in the cell that he had been in for the last few months. 

He slowly sat up and yawned. He looked down at his belly as he pulled the blankets down. He saw the swelling and knew it was still no dream. Leo tried to think again how far along he was. 

After waking up at 13 weeks, and after having had 5 other exams, he realized he was at 18 weeks. He was close to being 5 months pregnant. And it wouldn’t be long before he would feel movement he was sure. After losing the first two, Leo was looking forward to feeling the twins move. It would make him feel happier to know they were alive. 

Then the other thing that Leo noticed was he desperately needed to go to the bathroom. He got up and did that just in the nick of time. After he was finished, he left the bedroom to see if his host was up yet. He found she was still in bed. 

He didn’t want to disturb her and left her to sleep. He went to the living room and got comfortable on her couch and tried to meditate. He hadn’t done it for some time. He had always been interrupted at Johnson’s facility. 

Leo hoped that his family hadn’t given up on him. He had to let them know he was alive and well. He had to reach his father or one of his human friends. He would try to call them today, but first he wanted to make sure Allison was okay with him making a long distance call. 

He closed his eyes and took cleansing, deep breaths. He soon started entering the astral plane when he heard some noise from upstairs. He opened his eyes. 

“Leonardo?” He heard his name. 

Allison had awoken from a good sleep and went to check on her new guest, and found him not in his bed or the bathroom. She called his name. 

“I’m down here.” She heard the reply. 

She came down the stairs sleepily, yawning. “How long have you been up?” 

“Not long. I’m an early riser. Always have been as far as I can remember.” Leo said. 

“How are you feeling this morning?” She asked.

“Good actually. Maybe a little sore from my actions last night. I haven’t done that in quite a while.” 

“Do you want some breakfast?” 

“I like tea for breakfast at home, but my babies need more nutrition,” he replied, his hand once again covering his belly. “So, yeah, breakfast would be nice.” 

“I can make eggs, pancakes, toast, cereal.” 

“An egg and pancake breakfast sounds good.” Leo replied, letting his appetite take over for a moment. As soon as the words left his mouth he felt a small pang of guilt for asking for so much. “If it isn’t too much trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all.” Ali said and began getting the ingredients together to make the food, all the while also making coffee for herself. 

When Leo smelled the coffee, it made him hold his nose. It didn’t smell so good. He knew Don had it every morning, but he hadn’t seen Don since the night of the switch. Coffee was a little off smell for him at the moment. He got up off the couch.

“Excuse me, Ali. I need to go take a walk before breakfast.” Leo said and went outside. He didn’t want to be around the smell. 

Leo went outside into the morning air. It smelled like late summer. It was September after all. He was glad to be seeing open country. It made him feel like he had freedom. It was good that Ali lived out in the country. 

Ali appeared at the door. “Don’t go far, Leo. Breakfast will be ready soon.” 

“Ok.” He replied and began walking around the yard. There was about four acres of land. It reminded him a little of Casey’s farm and it made him miss home.

In a part of the yard, he saw a shed with a pen around it so he went to go check it out. 

When he got to the corral, he saw a family of miniature horses in it. He saw a gray mom with a brown baby and brown painted male horse, probably the father. And he saw some chickens. 

Seeing the little baby horse mesmerized Leo. It must have been because he was expecting his own soon. The little guy even came over to check the big, green creature looking at him. Leo couldn’t help but smile. “Hey, little guy.” 

The little horse whinnied and went galloping playfully back to his parents, kicking up his heels and running around. Leo giggled. 

“He’s only a month old.” A voice suddenly said.

“Huh?” Leo jumped. 

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you. I just said that the foal is only a month old. He’s going to a new home when he’s weaned in a few months.” Ali said. “His mother is going to be having a new baby next year. The stallion in there is the father.” 

“You breed little horses?” Leo asked. 

“Yes. They can’t be used for much like their bigger relatives can. I breed them for shows and pets. A lot of friends of mine like the horses I give them every year.” Ali explained. “I also came out here to check my chickens’ house for their eggs we’re having for breakfast.” 

“Oh.” 

Ali did have a basket on her arm and then went into the henhouse and collected six eggs. 

“You have only hens right? No rooster?” Leo asked. 

“If I had one, you would have heard him at sunrise. No. No rooster around.” Ali said. “I’ll have the food done soon now that I have the eggs I need.” 

“What are the horses’ names?” Leo asked. 

“Daisy is the mare, and Apollo is the stallion. I don’t name the foals. The new owners will name him.” 

“You’ve got to call him something.” Leo said. 

“I just call them Little Guy or Little Girl until their new owners get and name them.” Ali said. “I’ve got to go back in. You can visit them a little longer.” Then she went back to the house. 

Leo couldn’t help but admire the foal. The foal finally stopped running around and went over to nurse from his mom. Leo knew he wouldn’t be able to do that for his kids. 

He sat down in the grass and watched the horses awhile longer until Ali opened the door and called, “Breakfast is ready!” 

“I got to go guys. See ya later.” Leo said as got up to go back to the house. 

The horses went about their business eating grass. 

When Leo walked into the kitchen, the smell that wafted from the food smelled wonderful. It did make Leo’s stomach growl. “It smells really good, Ali.” 

“I try to be a good hostess when I have guests.” She replied. 

Leo sat down at the table and began to butter his pancakes and put syrup on them. He tried them first, then the eggs. The tastes just blew his mind away. “Hmm. Ali, this is so good.” 

“Thanks. Glad you like them.” She said and went on eating her food as well. She had held off, wanting to know how he liked his. 

When he was halfway through his breakfast, Leo remembered what he wanted to ask. “Ali, I have to ask you something.” 

“Yes?” 

He swallowed his eggs, and then said, “Can I make a phone call? To my friends?” 

“The ones in New York, right?” 

“Yes.” 

“Yes, you can after breakfast.” Ali said. 

Leo smiled. “Thanks.” 

“You sure you want to go to New York right away?” Ali asked. 

“Yes. My family’s there. I have missed them for so long.” Leo said. 

“If you stay here for a week, then I’ll be on vacation and I can take you back to New York. I’ve always wanted to see that beautiful city.” 

“That’s nice of you, but I think they want me home. I would want me home too. Though I do have to come up with a way to tell them what’s going on with me.” Leo said. “I need time to tell them I’m expecting.” 

“So are you going to wait?” 

“Yes, but I still need to tell them that I’m alive and, for the most part, unharmed.” 

Right after breakfast, Leo went in to use the phone in the living room. 

Ali wanted to hear what he and his friends said. 

Leo picked up the phone and dialed April’s phone number. He knew it was early, but he was all too eager to go home. 

In New York, April had just gotten up to start her work day when the phone rang. She went and answered it. “Hello.” 

“April, it’s me, Leo.” She heard on the line. 

Her eyes suddenly lit up. She had never thought she would ever hear that voice again. “Oh my god! Leo! Are you ok? It’s so good to hear your voice.” 

“Same here, April. Yes, I’m fine.” 

“Where are you?” She asked. 

Leo asked where he was and Allison told him. Then he told April. 

“Nebraska! We can come and get you.” She said. 

“No, April. Don’t. I’m staying with a nice lady here in Nebraska and she said she’d bring me home in a week. I just escaped from the government facility yesterday and I need some time to rest a bit first. But I assure you I’m fine. You can give my family the message that I’ll be home in a week.” Leo said. 

“Ok. Just be careful. We have all missed you very much.” 

“I missed you too. Goodbye, April.” Leo said. 

“Goodbye, but if you feel the need to talk again, feel free to call anytime.” 

“Thanks, I will if I need to.” Then they hung up. 

“So, is April a girlfriend from back home?” Ali asked. 

Leo looked at her. “No. She’s just a friend. More like an adoptive sister. She’s married to Casey.” 

“That’s good.” 

Leo felt a lot better now that he had talked to a familiar voice. He still yearned for home so much. 

Ali soon went to her job for the day, leaving Leo alone at her house. He didn’t have much to do, so he sat down and watched some TV for a while. He hadn’t watched TV in who knows how long. He settled on some shows that he knew his father liked to watch. 

Some of the shows were so emotional and with the strange hormones in his body, Leo couldn’t help himself when tears were flowing down his cheeks. 

When lunch time rolled around, he went into the kitchen to look for something to eat. He found some lunch meat in the fridge and some bread on the counter. He knew he couldn’t cook anything for himself, but he could make a decent sandwich. 

He put mayonnaise on two slices of bread, then the meat on them, and the final pieces. He had made two sandwiches. Then he put the mayonnaise bottle away and closed the bread bag and put the butter knife into the sink. 

He had them on a plate and he sat down at the table to eat his lunch. He hoped the twins would find this to their satisfaction. He sure did. 

When he was done eating, he washed the plate and put it in the dish holder beside the sink. Then he went back to the couch. He had grown accustomed to taking a nap after his lunch over the past several weeks. This time, he lay down on the couch to watch TV. 

Soon, Leo grew tired and in the middle of a program, he fell asleep with his hand over his stomach.


	12. Chapter 12

When April called Leo’s family, they couldn’t believe it at first. They were shocked and when it sunk in, they got excited. 

“He’ll be home in a week.” She said. 

After hearing that, Mikey wanted to start planning a party for Leo’s homecoming. Everyone else was up for that too. They would welcome their leader and big brother back with the biggest dinner and fun party ever!   
………………….

Ali arrived home about six in the evening with some supplies for Leo and some dinner. She put it on the table and went to look for the pregnant turtle. 

She checked the living room first and saw the TV blaring away. Then she saw Leonardo on the couch, sleeping. She picked up the remote and turned the TV off. She was sure he had been watching TV all day. 

As she watched him for a moment, she couldn’t help but stare at the turtle’s swollen belly beneath his hand. Him being pregnant was a miracle in itself, as he had told her that he and his brothers were the only ones of their kind. Ali couldn’t resist bringing one of her hands to Leo’s belly to rub it, to feel the babies. 

“You two are lucky to have Leo as your uh… parent. He is so caring and mature. And trying to save you from government feds. They would only do mean things to you. But you’ll have a chance at a better life now.” She said to Leo’s belly softly. Then she got up and gently shook Leo on the shoulder. 

Leo moaned in response. “Leo, time to wake up,” she said gently.

He looked up and saw Allison. “What time is it?” 

“After 6:30 pm. It’s time for dinner. I got us some special food and got you some prenatal vitamins.” 

“Prenatal vitamins?” 

“They’re good for pregnant mothers to take.” 

Leo stared at her. 

“Sorry, but you are pregnant.” She said. 

“It’s ok. Understandable right now.” He said and he was able to slowly push himself up. 

Even though his stomach was showing babies coming didn’t mean that he couldn’t still do things on his own. 

Leo and Ali went out to the kitchen for dinner and Ali gave him the vitamins. Leo read the label. When he was done, he took the lid off and opened it. He took a vitamin. It had a taste unlike any other vitamin he had taken before, almost like vanilla. 

Ali then unpacked the food. She had some sub sandwiches, along with some fruits and vegetables and rice. 

Leo was so happy that Ali had brought home some healthy foods for dinner. 

After dinner, they went out to the shed and fed the horses and chickens. Since there were only mini horses, Ali only fed them small bales of hay. Once in the morning and once in the evening. Of course, she forbade Leo from lifting those hay bales. 

“You’re not lifting these bales in your condition.” She said. 

Leo understood. And he didn’t want to harm the twins. 

After they were done, on the way inside, Ali asked him, “Have you thought of any names?” 

“Huh?” 

“Have you thought of any names for your babies?” She asked again.

“No. I’m going to wait until my brothers know that they are going to be fathers and give them a chance at naming them. I did name Raph’s though. He had a daughter that I named Rachel. She was the first baby that died inside me. Then there was the second and I don’t know what it was or which of my brothers that it belonged to.” Leo explained. 

“I’m so sorry about the two that died.” She said. 

“Thank you. I just still feel that I had failed them somehow. They were counting on me and I failed them.” Leo started to cry. 

“It’s ok. You don’t know what went wrong.” Ali said. 

“Rachel’s placenta ruptured from her womb inside me. And it was some kind of stress on the second. I can’t let the last two down.” Leo said firmly as he regained his composure. 

They sat down and watched TV until it was time for bed.   
……………….

For the rest of the week, Leo stayed at Ali’s house while she went to work at the gas station. 

He would have breakfast with her, see the animals in the morning, do some morning yoga workouts, and walk around. He had to have lunch by himself. He would watch some programs and take an afternoon nap. Then Ali came home and they had dinner, then they saw the animals again and went for walks, came inside, watched TV, and then finally went to bed. 

One of those days however, Ali said that some men had come into the gas station asking everyone if they had seen any unusual creatures hanging around the town. 

Ali had immediately said no, as had everyone else. 

Leo was a little taken aback at that. But it wasn’t unusual for Bishop or Johnson’s goons to be looking for him. He was glad that Ali had not given away his whereabouts. She could be trusted. 

Leo knew that he might be punished severely by Johnson or even Bishop if he was caught again. He was so close to being able to get home.   
…………..

Sunday finally came and Ali was finally free to do what she wanted for two weeks. Her first priority was to take Leo home as she had promised. 

She packed some clothes and soap and other needed things for the trip. She had arranged for her brother to take care of her animals while she was gone. He had asked why she was going to New York. She said she was going with a special friend who had vacation time too and that she needed to get away for a while. Her brother agreed to take care of her animals. He was quite responsible. 

Leo didn’t like having to wear clothes in the car, but it was just to hide him. Ali didn’t know the roads heading towards his home so she had to drive in the daytime. She had gotten him some good sized baggy clothes and a baseball cap. She hadn’t wanted him wearing that old filthy coat that she had met him in. 

Leo and Ali departed after lunch. It was going to be a long drive to New York, but at least Leo was on his way home. 

They stayed overnight in a hotel in Illinois. Ali wasn’t going to drive at night on unfamiliar roads. Leo didn’t blame her. 

They had a two bedroom. After dinner that evening, they were watching TV when suddenly, Leo felt something weird coming from inside him. It felt like a little bump. 

He waited, but it didn’t come back. A little while later, there was another bump, making Leo flinch. He looked down at his belly. 

“What’s wrong?” Ali asked, seeing his concerned face. 

“Something’s happening.” He said. 

“What?” 

Another bump. Leo put a hand on where he felt the bumping going on. “I… I think I’m feeling a baby kick.” He looked up at her. 

Ali smiled. “That’s great. Can I feel it too?” 

“Wait. I need to see if it’s going to do it again.” 

“Anything?” She asked after several moments of silence. 

“Nothing.” He said and then another bump. He flinched again. “Now it did it again.” 

“It must be responding to your voice.” She said. 

“Maybe. Here.” Leo said and took her hand and put it on the spot where he felt the movement. “Come on, Little One. Do it again.” He said. 

Then another bump. 

“Wow!” Ali responded. “That is an incredible feeling!” 

It brought a smile to Leo’s face. “Yeah, it is. And I get to feel it for many months yet. Agent Johnson was so sure I’d be pregnant for 9 months like a human.” He said. “And I am carrying baby turtles that don’t have egg shells.” 

“I’m sure your brothers will be thrilled there are new babies coming.” Ali said. 

“I don’t know, Ali. I’ve been missing for 5 months and I come home all of a sudden and they find out that I’m pregnant. Don and Mikey might be accepting and I’m sure Master Splinter will be, but it’s Raph that I’m worried about most of all.” Leo said. “He’s not always accepting of new things right away. I had a hard time accepting this situation as it was, but I didn’t have a choice. And I wasn’t about to let Bishop hurt the babies.” 

“Yeah, but he’ll get used to the idea in time. You have a few months left to get everything ready if the babies are going to be carried for that amount of time.” 

Even though they had only known each other for a short time, Leo thought of Ali as a very good friend and was glad she had given him a place to stay and was taking him home. If she hadn’t helped, Leo would have had to resort to stealing for food after the gas station had closed that night. And a journey on his own in his current condition would have placed more stress on him and the remaining twins. 

They went to bed after finishing a program that Ali liked to watch.


	13. Chapter 13

Ali and Leo had an early start the next day. Ali would drive for a long time before needing to make a pit stop for food and bathroom needs. And Leo was glad to get them. Being in the car for too long could make just about anyone carsick. Leo was also the kind that needed to stretch his legs often. 

Leo didn’t get too much attention from strangers as he was wearing the baggy clothes as there was a little chill in the air. His kids would be born in the middle of winter and this was not good timing. They would need clothes, maybe even incubators to keep them warm after they were born, if they weren’t born too early. Don would be able to make incubators, but of course, first Leo had to get his family to accept that these babies were going to be part of the family.   
………………..

Leo’s brothers were getting restless and tired of waiting for Leo to come home. Raph was the most skeptical right now. He had heard that Leo had been staying with someone and that they would be bringing him home. Still, Raph was worried for his brother. He half suspected that the person had changed their mind and turned Leo back into the government for a big fat paycheck. 

Leo hadn’t called since last week and Mikey was especially worried as well. His eldest brother was a hero to him. He hoped he wasn’t hurt. 

Don still felt guilty that Leo had been taken because it was to save him. He tried to keep busy on his computer and inventions while he waited, but it was nerve wracking waiting for Leo to come home when he said he would be. 

Master Splinter was happy that his son was coming home, but he also felt a little on edge, like something wasn’t right. He could feel his son’s spirit at times, and something felt different. But either way, he would welcome Leonardo home. 

And the whole family had the party planned for Leo when he got home.   
……………….

After crossing two more states they were now in Pennsylvania, Ali was ready to call it a night but Leo wanted to keep on going. 

“Leo, I’m tired. I know you want to get home, but we can get you home tomorrow. You’ve been away from them this long. Another night in a hotel won’t do any harm.” Ali said. 

“Alright. The babies and I are hungry anyway.” Leo said. 

Ali smiled. She had found a hotel and went to go get a room for the night while Leo waited patiently in the car. 

It took a little bit for her to come back out to the car. She waved the key at Leo, signaling he could get out now. As they were going to the room, she said, “It took me awhile to get a key to a room because the guy who runs this place looks nearly like a hundred years old and he could hardly understand a word I said.” 

“Old men’s hearing goes when they get to be that old.” Leo said. 

“When they are as old as that guy, they shouldn’t be in charge of running a hotel or working anymore.” Ali said. “You need to be able to hear what your customer wants and needs to be able to work.” 

Leo understood what she was saying. Sometimes it was hard to get the oldest generation to understand things. But they went on and got into their room. 

Taking a good shower was on both their minds before having a good dinner. There was a restaurant across the street from the hotel and Ali said she would go get them something to eat after the showers. 

Ali unpacked the soap and went in to take hers first. Leo got out of his clothes and sat down on the bed. Then he noticed a fridge on the floor by the TV stand. He went over to it and opened it up. 

The fridge had some cans of soda in there. Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Sprite, and Ginger Ale. 

Leo took out a can of Ginger Ale. It would go easy on his stomach and not give the twins any caffeine. He was quite thirsty. He then turned on the TV, waiting for Ali to finish cleaning up. He lied down on the bed and put the can on the dresser next to the bed. Before long though, he nodded off. 

Ali came out of the bathroom a half hour later. “Shower’s yours, Leo.” She announced. 

But Leo didn’t respond. She saw him lying on the bed with the TV on. “Leo?” She got around the bed and saw that he had fallen asleep. The pregnancy, she guessed. Then she noticed the can of Ginger Ale on the dresser. 

She turned to look around and noticed the fridge. She went to look in it. She saw what Leo had seen. Since they were going to go to bed in a few hours, she pulled out a Sprite. Then she opened it, drank some of it, and then went to go get some dinner. 

When Ali got back into the room, she saw Leo was still asleep. She hated to wake him up, but he needed to get the final nutrition of the day into his body for him and the twins. She had also gotten some milk for him to down as the babies were also going to need some calcium. 

She went over and nudged Leo awake. “Sorry to wake you up, but it’s time for dinner. You can take a shower after dinner.” 

Leo yawned. “I guess I was more tired than I thought.” 

“It’s ok. It’s understandable that you need a lot of rest.” 

Ali unloaded the bags of food. She handed him a salad, the milk, and some chicken and rice. 

Leo gave a questioning look at the milk. 

“You need the calcium for the twins.” She said. “And you have the Ginger Ale over there to drink too.” 

Leo didn’t argue. He just went about preparing to eat his meal. 

Ali had a salad, some steamed vegetables and some chicken as well. 

After dinner, as promised, Leo took his shower and when he came out, Ali was watching TV. There wasn’t much to do in a little hotel room for them other than watch TV. 

“I hope you can get me home tomorrow.” He suddenly said. “I have appreciated your hospitality for letting me stay with you and get to know you, Ali. And I’m glad you didn’t have a problem sharing your food with me, as you know, I do have two little stomachs to feed too. And I will always be indebted to you for helping me get home.” 

“Thank you, Leo. That means a lot to me. And I’m glad I met you. I could have been raped that night if you hadn’t been there. And I wish you all the luck and love in the world to raise your new babies and that your family accepts them.” She said. 

“Thank you.” He replied. 

It wasn’t long after that that they went to bed. They still had a good long drive yet tomorrow and they needed their rest.   
………………..

The next morning, Leo and Ali had a good sized egg and pancake breakfast from the same restaurant before hitting the road again after 9 am. 

Ali knew that Leo was anxious to get home, and she did want to meet Leo’s family, but she knew that she couldn’t stay with them for long. She only had two weeks to be with them. 

At one of their rest stops as they just entered New York state late in the afternoon, Ali spoke up. “Leo, if you ever feel like you want to write to me about things or how things are going with you, you are free to do so. And I’d like to hear how the babies are doing when they are born.” 

“Thanks. I’ll be sure to do that.” Leo said. 

It was after six that they finally came to the city of New York. Leo smiled at seeing his home town again. He was nearly home! 

It was a huge city and easy to get lost in. At a gas station on the edge of town, Leo said he could take over driving since he knew the city. Ali easily gave in as she was nervous driving in huge cities like this. Leo’s stomach wasn’t that big yet, so he could still drive. 

It was over an hour of driving through the big city and into Manhattan. Leo soon found April’s home and pulled into the back of her building. “This is where my friend, April and her husband, Casey, live.” He said. 

“It’s a nice place from what I saw in the front.” Ali replied. “Now that we’re here, let’s go in and let me meet them. And your family can meet you here?” 

“Yes. They’ll call them for sure when they see that I’m here.” Leo said. 

Leo was still wearing the clothes when he and Ali went to the back door and rang the doorbell. 

It wasn’t long before the door opened and there stood April. 

“Hey, April. I’m home.” Leo said with a shy smile. 

“Oh, Leo!” She said in a sad like tone and just came forward to hug him. “We all missed you so much!” 

“I missed you too.” Leo said. “But take it easy on me.” Leo rubbed his belly when she let go. 

“Are you ok?” April asked as she saw a noticeable roundness to Leo’s stomach even from under the clothes.

“I’m fine. I’ll explain later. Right now, it’s just so good to be back in New York and to see you again. Is Casey home?” 

“No. He’s working right now, but come on in. And who’s your friend?” April asked. 

“April, this is Allison O’Connor. Ali, this is April O’Neil.” Leo introduced the women to each other. 

“It is an honor to finally meet you, April.” Ali said. 

“And it’s good to meet you. Thank you for bringing Leo home.” April said so gratefully. 

“It’s been an honor to know him. He saved my life.” Ali said. 

“That’s the Leo that his family knows and loves.” 

“Cut it out.” Leo blushed. 

“Do you want to come upstairs to my home and get comfortable while I call the guys to come over?” April suggested. 

“Yes.” Leo said. 

“Sure. I also want to meet Leo’s family. He has told me so much about them.” Ali said. 

Leo and Ali went upstairs while April got out her shell cell and called Donny’s number. 

Don picked up rather quick. “Hi, April. What’s up?” 

“Donny, I have great news! Leo is here now!” She spoke excitedly into the phone. 

“What?! How long has he been there?” Don asked in the same way. 

“He just got here. He also brought the friend who had brought him home with him. You and the others should come over and pick him up.” 

“Of course. We’ll be there shortly.” Don said and hung up. 

Don couldn’t have been more happy and in shock too, but he ran out of the lab, calling Raph, Mikey, and Splinter to him. 

“Calm down, Donatello. What is going on?” Splinter asked. 

“I just got a call from April saying for us to come over. Even you, Sensei. Leo is back! He’s at her place right now.” Don explained. 

“Yay! He’s finally back!” Mikey got excited too. 

“Calm down, Shell for brains. Leo’s been gone so long and we don’t know what he’s been through.” Raph said. 

“Raphael is right. We will go and meet him. I would love to go and see my son again.” Splinter said. 

They all went and got in the truck and went to April’s place to pick up their long lost brother.   
……………….

Leo had just gotten out of the baggy clothes as April got to the top of her stairs. She had closed up her store so she and the others could meet and talk. 

“Leo, it’s so good to have you back.” She said. 

“And it’s good to be back.” He replied. 

Then April noticed something different about him. He seemed like the same old Leo, but his stomach was pretty swollen. “What happened to you?” 

“It’s so hard to explain, but the short story is, I’m pregnant, April.” Leo said with a hand on his stomach. “I’ll explain it all when the others get here, at least of what I know Bishop’s goons did to me.” 

April accepted the short story for now. Yeah, it was a story they all should hear.


	14. Chapter 14

When Leo’s brothers and Splinter arrived, there was a very big reunion with hugs and hellos, but it was short lived when they saw the size of Leo’s stomach and his friend, Ali. 

Leo told them everything he knew of what Johnson’s goons had done to him, but the most emotional part was when he told them he had lost two of his babies. He pointed to the scars on both his sides where they had been surgically removed. 

“And these babies were ours too?” Don asked. “They could have done that to me, but they never did. They said my mutation had ruined my DNA.” 

“I am so sorry, Leonardo. I know how you feel. I would feel the same if something like that happened to any of my sons. And you were greatly missed here.” Splinter said. 

“You said one of the babies was mine? How could you be so sure?” Raph demanded. 

“It had your skin color. I never got the see the second one that died, so I don’t know whose it was.” Leo said. “I named the one I saw Rachel. It looked like a girl to me.” 

Then after all the back story of his time in the facility, Leo told of how he managed to escape. “The night I got out and came to the closest town, I was coming into the town for a place to hide and get supplies for my trip home, but as my friend, Allison, or Ali was closing up the gas station that night, I saved her from some punks that wanted to do harm to her.” Leo explained. “Then she gave me a place to stay and recuperate for a week until her vacation time, so here we are.” 

Splinter stood before the young woman and said, “Thank you so much for bringing my son home to us.” 

Ali bowed in return. “You’re very welcome, Master Splinter. Leo’s been great company for me and it’s been an honor to know him and be his friend. It’s nice to meet all of you at last.” 

Don and Mikey were all too thrilled to meet her. Raph was more hesitant, but said hi anyway. Then he said, “So what are we going to do about the leadership role then?” 

“What about it?” Mikey asked. “Leo’s back.” 

“Leo won’t be able to lead us on patrols while he’s pregnant.” Don said. “Like he said, he’s already lost two of them. Leo, we are going to need to do an exam as soon as possible.” 

“I know. I hope the twins are ok.” Leo said. “What about Ali? Where’s she going to stay?” 

“She can stay here with Casey and me. She might not like the smell of the sewers.” April offered. 

“Thanks, April. I don’t mind sleeping here, but I would like very much to see their home.” Ali said. 

“It can be arranged. But for now, I would like my son to come home for the night.” Splinter said. “Have a good night, Ms. O’Connor.” 

“Good night, Master Splinter. And to you Leo and your brothers.” 

“Good night.” Leo said. Then he and his family left April’s. 

When the mutants were gone, April said, “I’ll introduce you to Casey when he gets home and get the couch set up for you.” 

“Thank you.” Ali said.   
……………….

When Leo was taken home, he saw a banner on the kitchen wall that said in big blue letters, “Welcome Home Leo!” 

“You guys wanted to throw me a party?” Leo asked. 

“Yes. We missed you so much, Bro!” Mikey said. 

“Thanks. I missed you all these past five months too.” Leo said. He couldn’t help that he broke down in tears. 

“As for the babies, we’ll have to take you to Leatherhead’s tomorrow for a scan. I don’t have an ultrasound machine at the moment.” Don said. 

“After I woke up from the first three month long sleep, I grew to hate those anyway. They did them on me every week.” Leo said. 

“They wanted to make sure nothing happened.”

“I know, but it was very irritating.” Leo said. 

Raph was still skeptical about the whole pregnancy. He knew his brother carrying them was a big risk and he was worried about it. He didn’t want to lose his brother after he had just gotten him back and he had been looking forward to giving the role of leader back to him, but that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. 

For the rest of the night, the family had a special dinner in Leo’s honor and had a video marathon. Leo managed to stay awake for three movies, but fell asleep halfway through the fourth movie. It was one of Leo’s favorites, but he was exhausted from the partying. 

Don, Mikey, Raph and Splinter couldn’t blame him. Splinter didn’t always watch every movie with his sons, but he wanted to be there for his welcomed back son tonight. 

“Should we wake him up?” Raph asked. 

“No. He is carrying new life that is sure to make him more tired now than ever, Raphael. Let him sleep on the couch if he wishes to.” Splinter said. 

Raph knew he was going to quickly get sick of this pregnancy. He couldn’t help but stare at his brother’s swollen belly. He felt that these babies were the enemy. After all, they had been forced on his brother without his consent and they had been made by Bishop’s cronies. He couldn’t believe that Leo still wanted them. And he had heard that one of the dead ones was his!

Don still felt guilty that this had happened to Leo, but was much more accepting of the new situation. But he felt this could have happened to him instead if he had remained in Bishop’s clutches, or worse. To him, other than a bigger belly, Leo didn’t seem any different, though now he knew Leo might end up getting more emotional at times. He would be there for his brother. 

Mikey was extremely thrilled he was going to be an uncle, or a father, whichever Leo would let him take the role of when the babies came. One of the remaining two could be his. He supported this. He wanted to be able to try to make others laugh, and young children could be very impressionable. 

Master Splinter was happy his son was back, and he was happy that his son was going to get to experience fatherhood, but he still worried about the responsibilities that were going to be added to the ones he already had. He knew Leonardo had enough responsibilities with being a leader and oldest brother, and especially with keeping Raphael in line and trying to make Michelangelo focus in training. However, he knew Leonardo would be unable to do any heavy training anytime soon. 

And all in all, all of them thought that Leo had found the perfect human friend who had brought him home. He had saved her life and gotten the best kind of gratitude ever, especially when he had been lost and alone out there in Nebraska and being pregnant. Allison would definitely be allowed to visit while she was here and whenever she wanted to afterwards. 

They all went to bed after making sure Leo was comfortable on the couch. If he woke up and wanted to go to his room, then he could, but he was sleeping soundly at the moment and his family let him sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

The next day, Leo woke up on the couch in the lair. He had slept the whole night, and not even movements from the twins had disturbed him. But he was feeling them now. They were probably hungry. He got up off the couch and went to his room for a brief moment to see his old room and see what time it was. 

It was still a little early for anyone to be awake. It was about the time he would usually get up to do his morning meditation and some workouts before the real training began. Leo also noticed that he still didn’t have his gear on. 

He saw that his room was the same way he had left it before his kidnapping, then went down to the dojo to get his gear. He had missed wearing his katanas for so long. 

He found his katanas on the wall, where his family would have left them for him to find no doubt. But they had never found his other gear. He didn’t even know where his belt or elbow and knee pads were. It didn’t matter though. He donned more pads on his body and put the sword harness on over himself. 

Leo breathed in a big breath of air as he wore his katanas again. But he didn’t know if wearing a belt now was such a good idea. He would have to keep on loosening it as the twins grew and he would have to keep it loose anyway to not cause restriction to the twins. But he hoped wearing the sword harness wouldn’t be any trouble. 

Leo then felt a good kick in the gut and was reminded that his little ones were hungry. “Alright, alright. I’ll get something for you.” 

He left the dojo and went to the kitchen to start a pot of tea, something he hadn’t done in a long time. But he remembered how to do it. He got the water and pot settled then went through the remnants of food in the fridge from last night. Cold pizza most of all, but he didn’t want any of that right now. He closed the fridge door after grabbing the milk. He knew they needed the calcium.

He popped a prenatal vitamin before making some cereal for breakfast. He might want more later, but right now, he just wanted to settle the twins down. His first morning routine back was not the same, but he would do all he could to make the twins happy. 

When the pot went off, he made himself some green tea. It had been too long since the last time he was able to enjoy a cup. He hoped the babies would be ok with it. 

After having his tea and cereal, he went back to the dojo to do some morning meditation. 

He got an hour in before he heard the sounds of his family coming into the dojo. He saw his father come in first as usual. 

“Good morning, Leonardo.” 

“Good morning, Father.” 

“How are you this morning?” Splinter asked. 

“I’m fine. Had to settle the twins down before I could meditate.” Leo replied. 

“What do you mean, settle them down? Do you feel them?” 

“Yes. I started feeling them move inside me last week. I’m nineteen weeks along and their movements are getting stronger. I had my usual morning tea and some cereal to try to make them happy.” 

“You know that you are not going to be training with your brothers, Leonardo.” 

“I know. I just want to be in here to watch them train and just wanted to meditate in here is all.” Leo said. 

Then Leo’s brothers came into the dojo. They were all sleepy eyed, but were ready for training. 

Raph was second in line, and spoke up when he saw Leo already in there. “Just like clockwork. You’re still in here even when you’ve been gone for so long.” 

“I still did kind of keep my usual time of getting up early even when I was gone, Raph. At least after I woke up from the three month sedation.” Leo said. 

“You’re not going to be able to train with us, Leo.” Don said. “After training, at least shortly after breakfast or something, we are going to Leatherhead’s for the scan.” 

“I know I’m not sparring with you, but I am going to watch. I was just in here for morning meditation. And yes, I know. Sometime today for the scan.” Leo replied. “I do want to see how they’re doing now.” 

The three brothers watched Leo get up from the mat, a little slower than he used to, but he managed without help. They all still couldn’t help but look at what made that happen: Leo’s belly. 

“They aren’t too heavy, are they?” Mikey asked. 

“No, but if I try to move too quick too fast and I can easily lose my balance. I did the first time I tried to get up after I woke up.” Leo said. He bowed to his father then and stepped aside for his brothers to line up and bow as well to begin their training. 

Splinter knew he would be making transitions in training with the three sons that could still train, but he had been doing this for months now. 

“If Leo can’t train, then what can he still do?” Raph asked. 

Leo knew Raph was going to have a hard time accepting his new condition. “I can still do some light katas, and some yoga and walking exercises.” 

“Well, for today, I just want you to be scanned first before you do any of that, Leo.” Don said. 

“I know.” He sighed. 

This pregnancy was going to be making him restricted to a lot later on and Leo wanted to make the most of his time to be able to exercise for as long as he could, as well as being able to go places. Patrol was out of the question. He couldn’t risk the stress of a serious fight and getting a hit to the stomach or being kidnapped again. He knew Agents Bishop and Johnson would stop it nothing to get him back for what he carried for them. 

Master Splinter snapped his sons out of it and continued the trio on with their training. 

Leo leaned back on his arms and watched. He winced a little when he felt a few good movements from inside him. He didn’t want his little ones to feel cramped, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. 

Don, Raph, and Mikey had to take different turns against each other, or at times, against Splinter. Leo wished very much that he could be in there training alongside them. If he wasn’t in this condition, he would be even on his first day back in here. 

After training, the others all went to have breakfast together. Leo followed and decided he would have some of Mikey’s delicious cooking. Cereal could wear off kind of fast. 

Mikey made a good sized pancake and egg breakfast in Leo’s honor. 

Leo usually didn’t eat all that much before, but now, he had a good sized appetite. He took three pancakes and a good helping of the eggs and sausage. The others almost couldn’t believe how much he was eating. Good thing Mikey had made a good bunch of them, he would also eat about that much too. 

Don, Raph, and Splinter had some smaller portions but still loved Mikey’s pancake breakfasts as well. 

After breakfast, Don went and called Leatherhead to tell him that Leo was back and that they needed to come over to use his scanner to find out something about Leo, and that he had a very unusual condition. 

LH consented that they could come over and use his machine. 

Don went and told Leo that their croc friend was waiting. 

Leo had wanted to do some meditation and watch Raph do some weight lifting, maybe even do some light ones himself, but he knew Don wouldn’t budge on this. It was now or never. 

They told Splinter where they were going and their father consented. Mikey was too over enthused to not want to go and he went with them. Raph stayed at home. He didn’t want to go. 

The three turtles walked to Leatherhead’s home. “I hope one of the babies is mine!” Mikey said happily. 

“We won’t know that until it’s born.” Leo said. 

When LH greeted them, he wasn’t expecting Leo to look as he did in the stomach.

“So what’s wrong? Donatello said that you have a condition.” 

“Don, you didn’t tell him did you?” Leo asked. 

“No. I just said it was an unusual condition. I wanted the rest to be a surprise.” Don said shyly. “He’s pregnant, Leatherhead.” 

“How did it happen?” The big croc asked after a long silence. 

“Agent Bishop had me put under sedation and they did it using old DNA from us from one other time they were able to get it from us and used alien DNA to make the wombs. I’ve already lost two of them. I don’t want to lose the two I have left. And they said it‘s possible I could carry them to about nine months. I‘m already getting close to twenty weeks.” Leo explained. 

LH growled at the thought of that man, but then said, “If you were still carrying all four, that would be a much higher risk pregnancy and they might have to be born much sooner. But twins have more of a chance at making it to full term. But let’s get you examined to see what these babies look like and where they are inside you.” 

The big croc went to the controls of the machine and got it turned on. Then he instructed Leonardo to go lie down on the sliding bed. Leo had taken his swords off for this. 

Once he was lying down, Don put a soft, white lightweight blanket over Leo and began sliding him into the scanner. 

Leo was kind of glad this time that he wasn’t getting an ultrasound, but knew he might be getting one in the near future. He closed his eyes as he entered the machine. He didn’t know when the red laser would pass over him, but it soon did, starting at his head and made its way down his body. This way did manage to give him a slight chill as it still felt like an experiment.

They took a couple of scans of him and when it was done, the scanner brought Leo out the other side. He wanted so much to get off this thing. He got up slowly and went to see what the others were seeing. He wanted to see the more detailed look of the twins. 

When he was allowed to see the babies, he saw that the wombs that held them were now beside each other and LH and his turtle friends were looking at two little turtles nestled in those alien wombs. 

“Awww!” They all couldn’t help but say, and Leo couldn’t help it that his eyes welled with tears. This was the most detailed picture he had seen of them yet. 

They saw that the babies had wombs around them, had placentas that fed them, and were also growing in amniotic fluid. And of course the umbilical cords. And the twins were growing nicely. The only thing that couldn’t be done on the scanner was that they couldn’t hear the heartbeats. Leo had wanted to hear them again. They could always get a Doppler so that could listen to the hearts whenever he wanted. 

But for now, Leatherhead did have Leo lay down on his bed and he let Don listen to Leo’s heartbeat. Don put a stethoscope on Leo’s stomach to see if he could find the heartbeats that way. Leo wasn’t sure if they could be heard that way. 

Don did indeed find a heartbeat. “Here’s a heartbeat right here.” Don said happily. 

“I want to hear it!” Mikey said excitedly. 

Leo had raised himself up on his elbows and saw where the stethoscope was on his belly and he watched as Mikey now put it on and he listened. 

“So cool!” Mikey said. 

LH also had a listen. It made him smile. Then he went about trying to find the second heartbeat. He found it on the other side. Faintly, but it was heard. 

“Can I listen to them too?” Leo asked. 

“Sure. You might want to sit up first.” 

Leo sat up and was handed the stethoscope. He put them on his ears and then he put the listener down to where he had seen the others listening. When he found the sound of the first one, he almost couldn’t believe he was listening to them like this. 

The babies’ heartbeats were twice as fast as his. But after all the stress he had endured in trying to escape from Johnson, Leo was so glad that these two had made it. He would figure that one of them had to be his and he would be a strong baby. 

When it was time to go, Leatherhead said Leo could take the stethoscope with him for the time being. He knew his friend would want to listen to the hearts as often as possible. Leo might even let his father and human friends listen if they wanted to. 

“Thanks for the stethoscope, Leatherhead.” Leo said on his way out. 

“You’re welcome, my friend. Take care of yourself and the babies.” 

“I will.” 

Leo went home with a picture of the twins as well, and it was a good looking scan. 

Leo hung the picture on his wall in his room when he got home and placed the stethoscope in a drawer at his desk. He couldn’t be more proud of the picture. But it still didn’t tell him whose babies had survived. 

When they had returned, Splinter asked how it went. 

“They are little cuties, Master.” Mikey said. 

“I bet. You were all so cute when you were little.” Splinter said. 

“They are both alive and we all got to hear the heartbeats.” Don said.

Raph couldn’t believe he was hearing that nonsense. He figured they were just going to look forward to screaming and messy babies if they made it. 

Sometime later that day when Leo was out of his room, Raph snuck into the room and got a look at the picture, just being curious. He normally wouldn’t want to look at his brother’s internal organs or anything, but seeing the babies was obviously a must. 

He saw them in good detail. They were done forming, and looked like full-fledged mutant turtles, but they still weren’t done growing. He just hoped these two little ’angels’ weren’t going to harm his brother. He left the room. He accepted they were little turtles, but he still wasn’t ready to accept the change fully just yet. Things would change around the lair a lot even before the babies were born.   
………………

Later that day, Allison was welcomed to the lair for the first time. She had been invited for dinner. April and Casey were both there as well. 

Casey had found it hard to believe there were going to be baby turtles coming into his friends’ lives in just a few months. And what else, he had just found out that he was going to be new father too! April was just 8 weeks along in her pregnancy. 

April made the announcement as the excitement of new babies was just in the air. The others all congratulated her and Casey. 

“My kids will have a cousin.” Leo said. 

“Don’t you mean ’our’ kids?” Mikey stated. 

“Yeah, that too.” 

Both the humans and turtles would be busy raising children. It was always assumed April and Casey would have kids someday, and the turtles wouldn’t get that luxury without girls of their own, but Leo’s kidnapping had changed that. 

Leo took Ali on a tour of the lair and when he showed her his room, he showed her the scan from that morning. 

“Leo, they are so adorable!” She said. 

“Thank you. Well, I think that’s the entire lair. How about we go for dinner now?” Leo said nervously. 

“Sure.” 

They went and joined the family in the kitchen. There was spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, some rice, and some mixed fruit on the table for dinner. Everyone couldn’t seem to get enough of it. And Ali got to experience Mikey’s wonderful cooking.


	16. Chapter 16

During the next eight days, Ali spent a lot of time down in the lair, but she spent every night at April’s. She got to see what the guys were into during the day. She also got to watch them train in the evening shift, which of course, Leo couldn’t participate in, but Splinter had said that Leo was his most dedicated pupil to the ninja arts under normal circumstances. 

Don showed her around his lab and she was blown away by his vast knowledge. He showed her all that he was doing to prepare for the babies. She was quite illiterate in all of the things that Don knew, as were his brothers most of the time. But she was certain he would make a good doctor for Leo while the babies developed and when it was time for them to be born. 

Mikey loved showing her his comic books and video games. She also got to meet his orange cat, Klunk. 

“I really love animals. At home, I have chickens and some miniature horses. My mare, Daisy, had a baby over a month ago. Leo was absolutely loving being around them, at least seeing the tiny baby. Probably just because he’s having babies.” Ali said, scratching Klunk on the head. 

“Awww! I’d love to see them!” Mikey said. 

“And I’m sure you’d be great in handling them.” 

Ali kept her distance from Raph. He just seemed too mean for her liking. She got to see him beating on his punching bag when he didn’t train. 

She had some one on one time with Splinter as well. He gave her some tea and told her some stories about his sons when they were younger and some of their biggest adventures, and things from a father’s point of view. 

She spent most of her time with Leo of course. Now that he was home, he showed her his real world. She saw that he had a deep love for the Japanese culture, and not just martial arts. He showed her his favorite book, The Art of War. Ali looked through it and found that many statements in it made sense. She could see why Leo loved that book. She also saw him work out a few times, just in the small kata sense. 

There were just so many things about the turtles that made them so unique and special that were more different from the human world above. They had far more closeness as a family than most human families ever did. 

Ali thought her family was pretty close, but they all lived separately from each other. It was better to have space than be fighting all the time. As she watched Raph, he just struck her as the type that didn’t want to be disturbed a whole lot. 

“Yeah, Raph has that look about him and he takes a while to trust new people, as do I usually. But he’ll always have your back in a fight.” Leo said.   
……………….

The time finally came for Ali to go back home. She had fun while she was there. She gave the family her address and phone number. She was an hour behind them where she lived, so they had to watch what time they called her when they did. 

She gave everyone a hug who allowed it. They were all over at April’s saying goodbye. She hugged Leo last. “Take care of yourself and the twins. Tell me about them when they’re born.” She said. 

“I will, that’s a promise.” Leo said. 

Then she turned back to Mikey. “I’ll send you a picture of the horses.” 

“Awesome!” 

“And thanks to everyone for giving me such great hospitality.” Ali said. 

“It’s us who should be thanking you for giving our brother hospitality and safely bringing him home to us.” Don said. “If you didn’t, who knows how long he would have been trying to get back home on his own, and all the traveling could have caused great stress to the remaining babies.” 

“Yes. Thanks for everything, Ali. Hope to see you again sometime.” Leo said. 

“Me too. Take care. I’ll visit again someday.” Ali said. “Goodbye.” 

“Bye. Drive carefully.” Mikey said. 

“I will.” Then she walked out the door and got in her car and drove away. 

Leo thought it felt weird that she was now gone, but the point was she had brought him home. But he only cared for her as a friend, nothing more. He had a family to take care of, and now, in the near future, two little babies were going to be added to it as well.


	17. Chapter 17

'Leo awoke to a man holding two bundles in his hands. “Finally awake, Leonardo? Thank you so much for giving me the final two babies that will help fund Agent Bishop’s work.” 

Agent Johnson was holding two little bundles with green faces sticking out and they were crying their little lungs out. 

“No! Don’t hurt my babies!” Leo cried for them and tried to reach out for them. 

“They were never yours. You were just their carrier. Now you have served your purpose. Do away with him.” Johnson ordered, and a man standing beside him raised a gun and took aim. Then a white light…'

“NO!” Leo sat up screaming in bed. His breathing was heavy and he was covered in sweat. 

Leo had been having some bad dreams ever since he had gotten back home. He pulled the blanket down and saw his swollen belly. He rubbed it gently. “I don’t want to lose you two.” Leo said. 

The babies seemed to respond by kicking out at his hand. He had never been happier to feel it. But were these dreams a warning? He hoped not. He would never let Bishop get his hands on the twins. 

Sometimes Leo wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep at night because of these dreams. Then he would get up and go think in the kitchen with a cup of tea for company. Why were these dreams haunting him? He was home safe and sound with his family now. They would make sure nothing would happen to him or them. 

Leo was sitting at the table now when he heard footsteps approaching. One of his family. 

Raph stepped into view. “What are ya doin’ up, Fearless?”

“I couldn’t sleep.” 

“Bad dreams?” 

Leo looked up. 

“I could hear ya screaming in your sleep.” Raph said. 

“Sorry if I woke you up.” 

“What were the dreams about?” 

“Nothing.” 

“Oh, come on. Don’t feed me that lie. I heard ya saying, ‘Don’t hurt my babies.’ So what was it about?” Raph demanded. 

Leo sighed deeply. There was no hiding this from his brother. 

“It was about where after the twins were born and I was somehow in Johnson’s custody again and he had the babies in his arms and he said that I served my purpose and he had me killed afterwards. Could it be a warning? I hope not.” Leo said. 

Raph didn’t like to hear his brother talking like that. “It was just a dream, Leo. Ya saved Don and we aren’t goin to let that guy get his hands on ya again.” 

“Thanks, Raph.” 

“But Leo, do ya really think it’s a good idea for this to be happenin’ to ya?” 

“What do you mean?” 

Raph figured now was a good time to get this off his mind. No one else was up and it was just him and Leo, alone. 

“For you to be carrying them? They were after all, Bishop’s work.” 

“I know they were created by his work, but they were my only family when I was in that place for so long. They were created for a bad purpose, I know that, Raph, but they are still a part of our family. I won’t turn my back on them for any reason, no matter how they were created.” Leo seriously said. 

“And they created them without your consent. They forced ya inta that experiment. You’ve lost two already. How do ya know the last two will make it, or they won’t kill you?” Raph asked. “We don’t want to lose ya again.” 

“They won’t kill me. I’ll be fine. It was stress from those men that killed my other two. It was too stressful an environment for me and them. I knew I had to come up with a planned strategy to get out of there, but I had to learn my way out of the place first before I could get out successfully.” 

“And what about the birth? How ya goin’ to have ‘em? You’re not a female.” 

“I know that, Raph. Don will figure out how. There’s still a few months left.” 

“Have ya figured out how you’re gonna take care of ‘em? Babies are a LOT of work, Leo.” 

“When have I ever failed at being responsible? I know they are, but I have you guys to help me out. I won’t be doing this alone. And the longer I feel them inside me, the more I actually feel like I’m getting ready for this, no matter how it started.” Leo explained. “Like this was meant to happen. It just gives me a prouder, happier feeling.” 

“I see it’s just messing with your head. Ya haven’t been the same since we got ya back. I just don’t think it’s right, Leo. This ain’t natural for this to happen to ya.” 

Leo frowned at what Raph said. “Well, Raph, it is happening and there’s nothing I can do about it!” 

“I can do something about that.” As Raph approached Leo, Leo stood up. 

“What… what are you going to do, Raph?” Leo asked, backing away. 

“I still think those little monsters are evil! They might have been created to destroy us!” Raph growled. 

Leo couldn’t believe this. To hear his own brother say that about his babies. His babies! He knew Raph had had resentment, but he knew this was beyond that now.

Raph was advancing on him. “Don’t do this, please Raph.” Leo had a hand on his stomach. 

“Leo, this is for your own good and ours.” Raph said. 

“Raph, don’t!” 

“They‘re monsters used to control you into wanting them! We have to get rid of them!” 

“NO! I will not get rid of them! Stay away from me!” Leo cried out. 

“Leo, listen to me! This has to be done!” Raph said. 

Leo saw an opening and he took it. He ran from the kitchen, trying to get to his room. 

Raph wasn’t about to let him get away that easily. “Those things are evil, Leo!” 

It was making Leo breathe harder to simply run at the moment. “Keep away from me!” 

Raph was catching up to his pregnant brother. He saw how hard it was for him to run and he had both his hands on his stomach, supporting it as he ran. But just before he got him, Leo made it to his room and slammed the door closed, locking it. 

Raph slammed his fists into the door. “Leo! You need to get rid of them!” 

Leo got into the farthest corner and sat down, tears welling. “After I have that bad dream, and now this. I knew he had a hard time accepting this, but I didn’t think it would be like this.” 

The noise had awoken Mikey, Don, and Splinter. 

“What is going on here?” Splinter demanded. “Raphael, what are you doing pounding on Leonardo’s door so late?” 

“I know the rest of you have fallen for the prospect of Leo’s babies being little angels, but I just know that Bishop’s cronies created them to harm us. We have to get rid of them!” Raph proclaimed. 

Leo heard the other voices outside his room. 

“Leo told us why they were created, Raph, but they won’t hurt us.” Don said. 

“How do ya know that, Don? They also have alien DNA in them! They could turn on us! And Leo wants to go on carrying them!” 

“Raphael, enough! You will not harm Leonardo or the babies. Whatever comes with the babies, we will make sure your brother is looked after and that the babies are no threat. For now, we will continue to welcome them on the way and you will not do this again. Do you understand?” Splinter demanded. 

“Don’t say I didn’t warn ya when they’re born and they’re at your throats.” Raph growled. 

“Enough!" Splinter said.

"We knew you had resentment about this, Raph, but we never thought you would sink that low!” Mikey cut in. 

“And I will not abort them!” Don said. “Leo keeps the babies. They are a future generation, Raph.” 

“And I don’t want to see Leo die! This is destroying him!” 

“Raphael! Go to your room! You are not to be around Leonardo until further notice!” Splinter ordered angrily. 

“But, I…” 

“Now!” 

Raph growled as he left Leo’s room. 

They all heard a slam, and then Don began gently knocking on Leo’s door. 

“Leo, Raph’s gone. Please let us in.” 

Leo was crying, but he got up and went over to the door, letting them in. 

“I am so sorry, my son. Raphael had no business trying to do that to you.” Splinter said. 

Leo went and sat on his bed, holding his belly. “What if he’s right? But I don’t want to lose them.” 

“We will make sure nothing happens to you or them, Leo. They are just innocent little babies. They won’t hurt us.” Don said. 

Leo turned and hugged Don, sobbing. He couldn’t help it. He had never thought Raph would turn on him like this. 

Don hated seeing Leo like this. Everyone was going to be sore at Raph for a while. That was completely uncalled for. He had no right to take Leo’s babies’ lives. And if these babies died too, there wouldn’t be another chance like this, to get some new blood into their lives. None of them would be getting mutant turtle girls anytime soon. The babies would be protected at all costs. 

Splinter would talk to Raphael later on to see what started all this. 

Leo cried for a while and he hung onto Don for dear life. Mikey rubbed his shell comfortingly. 

When Leo did calm down, he was offered a choice to stay in Don or Mike’s rooms. 

“For right now, I’ll be happy to stay with one of you.” Leo said.

Leo ended up staying in Don’s room. It wasn’t easy getting any good sleep after a bad dream and that incident with Raph.


	18. Chapter 18

The next day, Splinter punished Raph. Staying away from Leo until he was ready to make it up to him was only the beginning. He was also forbidden from leaving the lair, he was charged with doing all of the chores around the lair, he had to meditate with Splinter, which he hated, and no TV for a week. He had wanted to watch a wrestling mania, but now he wasn’t allowed to watch it. 

Raph was more than pissed. All because of those damn babies. He was sure that they were evil and dangerous for his brother to be carrying. 

After last night, Don and Leo went to Leatherhead’s place to see how the babies were after the stress that was caused. 

Leatherhead now had an ultrasound machine as well as his scanner. He checked the babies using both. 

They could now hear heartbeats on the ultrasound machine. Both were found and Leo was glad that no big harm had come to them. 

When they got back home, Leo did see Raph on his way to the kitchen for some food. The red masked turtle scowled at his pregnant brother. He didn’t say a word and went on into the kitchen. 

“I get why Raph’s mad, but there is no way I’m aborting my babies.” Leo said. 

“I know we won’t,” Don insisted. “But we just have to keep an eye on him and yes, even the babies when they are born to make sure they are going to stay harmless. Where Bishop’s concerned, Leo, keep in mind that they might grow to be dangerous. But let’s hope not.” 

“They aren’t dangerous. We will raise them to make sure they never turn dangerous.” Leo snapped back. He didn’t want to hear what Raph said come from anyone else. 

“I know, and I am with you all the way, Leo. It was just a precautionary thought.” Don said. 

“I can go away from here if anyone’s going to even think I’m going to kill them.” Leo warned. 

“You wouldn’t be able to give birth to them on your own though, Leo.” Don said. 

“I know. I would come back before that time, but maybe I do need to get away for a while.” 

“Leo, you just got back. We don’t want you to go away.” 

“Then please stop talking as if my babies are demons.” Leo said. 

“I’m sorry if it sounded like that at all. That’s just where Raph’s thoughts were coming from. We know what kind of work Bishop is capable of, Leo. We just don’t want it to happen to us.” Don said.

“I know. And I will make sure he never succeeds. But the way I see it, Johnson had manipulated our DNA and made these precious babies just to be harmless, innocent little things that he and Bishop can do anything to in the future if they got their hands on them. They would take their DNA from them to make that stupid mutant army that Bishop wants so badly. The babies themselves would never be dangerous, they would just be innocent beings caught up in the middle of evil schemes.” Leo explained his thoughts. 

It was hard for Don to even come up with anything to say to that. Leo had a point. He was sure of Leo’s twins just being innocent victims.   
…………….

By the time two weeks had passed, Raph felt more ready to apologize to Leo for what he had done, but he explained why he was so worried about it all. 

“Raph, I understand why you’re worried about me. But the babies are just innocent. They were going to be in the scheme of things for Bishop’s work if I had stayed or if he gets his hands on them. He just wanted them for their DNA to make the army. I know he wouldn’t have been concerned if they lived or died. But they are a part of us, and I am not going to let the last two die.” Leo declared to Raph. “Don’t ever try that again.” 

“I just don’t want to see anything bad happen. And I won’t, but I’ll still be watchin’ over ya.” Raph said. “And I’m sorry.” He was still antsy about this whole thing though. He just wouldn’t let it get the best of him again, not unless it truly called for it.   
………………

Don counted up to the due date of the twins and calculated that they would be due in late January. It wasn’t the best time of the year for the twins to be born, so he figured he had better start working on some incubators for the babies to sleep in for the wintertime. 

The turtles might be able to stay here in the city up until it started getting really cold out, then they would head up to the farmhouse for the babies’ sakes for when they were born. The sewers were no place to birth babies.   
………………

When the twenty third week came around, it was in October. 

By this time, Leo had remedied what he would do if he had nightmares. He would either go for a walk in the sewers or meditate. But the good thing was that he wasn’t having them as often now. 

Ali had also written him a letter, telling him how things were going and had even sent a picture of the foal. The picture was also meant to be shown to Mikey, as Ali had discovered Mikey’s crazy love of animals too. 

Mikey wanted to name the little colt, but Leo said that she wouldn’t be keeping the foal. She would just have him until weaning time. 

“I wish we could have him.” Mikey whined. 

“You already have Klunk, Mikey. And we don’t exactly have the right kind of home for a horse. They have to be allowed to eat grass and hay all day and I don’t think anyone of us wants to clean up the messes they would make.” Leo said. 

“There’s space at the farmhouse.”

“We don’t live there all year round, Mikey. Horses are a big responsibility and we have the twins to be thinking about. No. There will be no horse in the lair. Yes, I liked the horses too, but we don’t have the right knowledge and space to care for any.” 

“Well, I just hope he gets a good home.” Mikey said. 

“He will.” Leo put an arm around Mikey. “She has responsible people wanting to give him a good home. She said that he’ll be a show horse later on.” 

“Thanks, Leo.” Mikey said as he gave Leo’s stomach a rub. “I hope one of you two is my child.” Mikey said. 

“Don’t give up hope, Mikey.” 

“Have you been thinking of names?” Mike asked.

“Still, not really. Times have just been a little confusing for me.” 

“We can help think of names.” 

“Sure. That would be nice.” Leo said. 

After Mikey left to go do something else, Leo went into Don’s lab to see how the incubators were coming along. 

They were looking well done every day. Don sure spent a lot of time on them. He wanted the babies to be welcomed and loved as much as his pregnant brother.   
……………….

Leonardo missed his serious training days so badly. Small katas just didn’t cut it, but it was better to be doing something than nothing. He wanted to train with his brothers and father again. He also didn’t like the fact that he was getting fat, but he knew he didn’t have a choice in the matter. 

He could do some punches and kicks, some moves with his katanas, and did daily yoga exercises. He had also begun more specialized breathing techniques. The twins were putting more pressure on his internal organs. 

Down here in the lair, Leo was the leader again, but out on patrol, Raph was in command, with Don trying to keep him calm. But if Leo’s guidance was needed, they could always call him. Leo wanted to feel wanted and useful. And despite his condition, he didn’t want to be left helpless either.


	19. Chapter 19

At twenty-five weeks along, there was quite the surprise in store for Leo. He hadn’t quite expected that his friend, Usagi, would be coming for a visit. 

Leo swallowed. He really didn’t want his friend to see him like this. 

“Well, Leo, it was your choice to carry them.” Raph said. 

“Usagi wants to come and see how you are doing. We told him that you were missing when we went to the Battle Nexus.” Don said. 

“I wish I could have been there.” Leo said, wistfully. 

“Well, at least Mikey lost this time. He couldn’t think straight with you gone.” Raph said in an attempt at humor. 

Leo was a bit glad for that. Now Mikey wasn’t rubbing his big win in their faces all the time. But it wasn’t fair why he couldn’t be there. Another three years and Leo would finally get his chance to compete. 

When Splinter told Leo that it was almost time for his friend to come through a portal, Leo immediately high tailed it to his room. He was nervous about Usagi seeing him this way. 

The portal finally appeared from the water and the samurai rabbit stepped out. He knew by now of the turtles’ new home. Splinter stepped forward first to greet him. 

“Hello, Miymoto Usagi. It’s good to see you again.” The wise rat greeted. 

“Hello, Master Splinter. Yes. It is good to see you too. And this new home is even bigger than your last one.” 

“Yes, well, it gives us more space when we want it.” 

“Hey, Usagi!” Mikey said as he and Don came up. Raph was in the rear. 

“Hi, my friends. Well, I see you, but I haven’t seen Leonardo-san yet.” Usagi said. 

“He’s here. He’s in his room, but Usagi, before you go see him, he’s in a current condition that most would find very unusual.” Don warned. 

“What sort of unusual, Donatello?” 

“When he came home from his kidnapping, we found out that an experiment done on him had made him look a little different. This is… hard to say as Leo is a guy like us, but…” 

“He’s pregnant.” Raph blurted out. 

That made everyone glare angrily at Raph. Usagi’s eyes lit up. 

“Yeah, the ones who did the experiment managed to get him pregnant.” Don said reluctantly. 

Usagi found that shocking and unbelievable. That would normally never happen to a male. 

“We’ve been taking good care of Leo. He might be nervous about you seeing him like he is, but if you want to see him, he’s in his room, that way.” Mikey said and pointed to the direction of Leo’s room. 

“Thank you, Michelangelo-san.” Usagi said and went to see for himself about Leonardo. 

Moments later, Usagi was standing outside Leo’s door and he knocked gently. 

Leo was sitting nervously on his bed and he got up when he heard the knocking. When he got there, he asked, “Who is it?” 

“It’s me, Leonardo-san. Usagi.” 

Leo took a deep breath and opened his door a little. “Hi, Usagi. It’s good to see you again after so long.” 

“May I come in?” 

“Sure.” Leo nodded, stepping aside.

The rabbit noticed that Leo did seem to be hiding behind his door when he first entered his friend’s room. But it didn’t take long to see why. 

“Your family said that you were expecting a child.” Usagi kept it simple. He saw the size of Leo’s stomach. 

“Yes. I know it’s strange, for this to be happening but it is. And it’s not one, but two babies.” Leo said. 

“An experiment?” Usagi asked. 

“Yes.” Leo was nervous, but he proceeded to tell what had happened to him all those months ago. Including about the two that he had lost. 

“I’m sorry about the two that were lost.” Usagi said when he heard it. 

“Thank you. Now I just have to do my best to make sure these two make it.” Leo said. 

“I know you’ll do your best and you’ll be a great father.” Usagi gave him a compliment. 

“Thanks. I know it will be hard, but my family and I will take good care of them. Don and Mikey have fully accepted this, but Raph still hasn’t because of who did this to me. He dreads the twins becoming dangerous. Of course we all do, but I don’t believe they will be anything like that. They’re just little turtles.” 

“Well, I wish you all the luck in raising them, my friend, but yes, be careful as well.” Usagi wasn’t going to go any further, but he would have been worried too after what he had heard. 

Once the story was done, Usagi and Leo went out to join the rest of the family. 

They all had dinner and Usagi did want to go out exploring the city again, but Leo sadly couldn’t go topside for his own safety. But Leo did let his brothers take his friend out. Later on, Leo helped to show him the trains and anything that was underground. 

Usagi fully understood that his friend wasn’t allowed to do full all out training. He just wanted to be his friend and give support for the coming babies. He would be worried about the babies in a pregnancy too if sparring and such could cause stress to the babies. 

Leo did show Usagi what he could still do at this far along. He wasn’t lazy by any means and did the moves as smooth and gently as he could. 

Usagi saw that Leo was about as limber as a turtle could be in his condition. He saw that the stomach didn’t get entirely in the way, at least not yet. 

“Do you feel them move?” 

“Oh yeah. They can keep me from getting a decent sleep at times.” Leo chuckled. “It’s not easy to try to sleep and they’re in there having a party.” 

Even that made Usagi giggle. 

“Usually after eating, before eating, and at bedtime they are the most active.” Leo said. “The movements aren’t too painful yet, but my back is starting to have problems.” He had just put his katana down and he put a hand on his back. 

The rabbit knew his friend was going through what every pregnant female was going through back home, but normally, turtles had eggs, not live babies. But the experiment had made it this way. 

Usagi was open for staying with Leo’s family if he was needed, but he didn’t want to overstay his welcome either. 

“Thanks for the offer, but I think my family can look after me.” Leo said. 

“If you need anything, I’ll be sure to help out if needed.” 

“Thank you.”   
…………….

Usagi left the next day. He was glad to see Leonardo was back and alive and well. The pregnancy was more than a shock, but he had accepted his friend was going to be having new life in his life soon. He even asked if he could have a special place in the babies’ lives. 

“You could be their godfather.” Leo said. 

“I would appreciate that honor, Leonardo-san.”


	20. Chapter 20

At times, when the pressure around the lair seemed to be filled with too many male hormones, like dealing with Raph, who was still unsure of everything, Leo would often go to April’s for ‘female time.’ 

Leo felt he was all male in all respects but his emotions right now. He could have mood swings at any time or place. 

As a woman, April understood Leo’s needs as a pregnant ‘mom-to-be.’ Of course, she too was carrying a child. She and Leo were best buds at these times. They felt like they could be so misunderstood with what was going on inside their bodies. And for April, she did feel happier that she didn’t have to go through being pregnant alone. Add to that, a male was going through what she was and would understand her better. 

April said that she and Casey had started taking Lamaze classes to help prepare for the baby ahead of time. She shared what she had learned with Leo. 

“This is all nice to know, April, though just to remind you that my pregnancy is not entirely the same as yours in some ways. Like the wombs inside me are just artificial until the babies are due.” Leo said. 

“I know. But until everything is taken out, just consider it like mine. You have mood swings, back pain, getting bigger in the stomach, have trouble sleeping when they are moving about, though I’m at 15 weeks now and not feeling mine just yet. Just some things though that our pregnancies have in common.” April explained. “And at times, can’t tolerate the men around us.” 

“I’m a male.” Leo said. 

“You know what I mean. When the others might say things they don’t mean or just don’t know how you feel about everything.” She said. 

“Well, Don, Mikey, and Splinter aren’t too bad in what they say to me. It’s Raph that has the problem with this whole situation. He did say he was sorry for telling me to get rid of them, but I know he still doesn’t want me to have them.” Leo said sadly. 

“It may take the birth for him to come around. It still feels like a long time off, I know, but you’re closer to your due date than I am mine. But when he sees how cute they are, he’ll regret ever thinking like that.” 

“I just hope he comes around even before then.” Leo said. 

“Yes, let’s hope so.” April agreed.   
…………….

Casey and Raph were on a run tonight. They were both having confused thoughts on what was going on with the pregnant ones in their lives. Of course, Leo and Raph were not lovers or together, but Raph still cared about his brother. 

They would talk about what went on that drove them crazy about them and wish their loved ones would know what was happening to them or would do things differently. 

Casey was more worried about what would happen after his child came. That he wouldn’t be able to go out to go vigilante hunting as much. Raph also felt the same way. But April’s pregnancy was normal; Leo’s wasn’t. That’s what worried Raph so much at the moment. He also didn’t understand all the emotions that Leo had. 

Raph and Casey were not the most sentimental kind of guys to understand every little emotion there was. But dealing with their pregnant loved ones was often a big challenge for them. It seemed like everything they did or said was upsetting or wrong to them.

“I know Leo loves the babies, but I’m just still worried over everything because those babies were created by Bishop’s work.” Raph said. 

“I know how easy it is to be worried about him. I worry about April too. What if something goes wrong at the end?” Casey expressed his fear. 

“Yeah, it’s easy to understand that too, but April’s also a female and can have her baby naturally. Leo can’t do that. I just don’t want the babies or the delivery to kill him.” Raph said. 

“I agree with you there, pal. None of us want to lose Leo ever again.” 

“And I can’t help but know that Bishop’s going to be after him again. My whole family has to remain vigilant. After all, they got to Leo through capturing Don.” 

“And we know that Leo would give his life to protect you guys.” Casey said. 

“Yeah, and so would I. I won’t let my brother be taken again and experimented on.” Raph said.   
………………

Donny had finally finished making the incubators. He swept his hands as he was done. 

“Finally finished!” He said proudly and smiling of his accomplishments. “Wait ‘til Leo sees them.” 

Ever since he had begun working on the incubators, Don had had little time for any fixing or making anything else, unless it was a desperate thing that needed fixing. 

After finishing the incubators, Don was ready for some sleep. He hadn’t gotten much over the last couple of weeks. 

He went to the kitchen, washed his hands and had a sandwich for a snack, went to the bathroom and went to bed for the night.  
……………….

The next day, Don showed Leo the finished incubators. “So, what do you think?” Don asked. 

“They look very amazing, Donny! Have you tested them yet?” Leo asked. 

“Yes. The lights will keep the babies warm when they aren’t being handled.” Don said. 

“That’s great. Of course, it will still be a few months before we truly need them.” 

“Yeah, but they could end up being born early. We don’t want to be unprepared for that either.” 

“I know, but I hope not too early. I hope they are born closer to their due date.” 

Mikey and Splinter also saw the incubators and were just as impressed as Leo. 

“You did very well on them, Donatello.” Splinter said. 

“Thank you, Father.” Don answered, and then said, “Mikey, I need you to be careful around them.” 

“I wouldn’t break them, Donny.” Mikey said. 

“I know you wouldn’t try to, but you do often touch things here in my lab that you shouldn’t be touching, and we can’t afford to lose these incubators.” Don explained. 

“I know, and I won’t break them. Promise.” Mikey said and he had a hand up in scout’s honor. 

Raph simply avoided the lab. He just didn’t care about it.


	21. Chapter 21

On Leo’s twenty seventh week exam with the scanner, Don and Leatherhead looked to see if the alien wombs were attached to any of Leo’s internal organs, though Leo wasn’t having any discomfort from that. 

The two scientist mutants saw that the wombs were more attached to the lining just below Leo’s plastron. It was alarming and it was a good idea right from the beginning that Leo had never gone topside with his brothers once he got back from Nebraska. A blow of any kind would easily kill one or both babies and really hurt Leo. 

Don and Leatherhead had to tread carefully when it came time to do the birth surgery in a few more months, but they also wanted to be prepared for it and where they were going to have to cut. Though Leo’s sides had been cut into long ago, the twins were entering into the bigger stages where it would be a lot harder to get them out through his sides, so the plastron was going to need to be cut. 

“So how does everything look?” Leo asked, snapping them out of their thoughts. 

“Everything with the babies looks fine, Leo, but we were looking over the scanner to see if the wombs attach to anything. And it looks like they are attached just under your plastron, to the lining of it. If you got kicked there, it would harm the twins and you.” Don said. 

Leo put his hands on his belly. 

“We were also looking at where they were attached because we want to know where we have to cut into you later on.” Leatherhead added on. “We have to be fully ready of where we’re going to cut when it comes time to deliver the babies safely.”

Leo dreaded the thought of being cut open in order to have the babies, but he knew it was necessary. He would deal with it so that he could have healthy babies. He would heal in time. 

“When the time comes, just do what you have to do to save us.” Leo said. 

Don admired him for that. He knew his brother would be miserable while he would be healing, but he would have healthy babies to distract him this time.   
……………….. 

When Halloween came that year, Mikey was the one who wanted most of all to go trick or treating. The others wanted to just stay home, but in the end, Mikey got his way. 

They all set out for April’s place, even Leo. But he would stay at April’s when his brothers left to go with Mikey. He couldn’t risk any fights after what he had learned from Don and Leatherhead last week. 

When they got to April’s, she had some pumpkins ready for them to decorate however they wanted to. Even Leo took part in it. 

April and Casey went to a Halloween party while the guys stayed there for a while and just decorated their pumpkins. 

Leo knew he would have to get used to having to go out on Halloween as he knew his own kids would want to go trick or treating when they got older. He really didn’t want much to do with the holiday’s candy, but he liked being able to walk about the city freely. But it was just too risky in his condition this year. If he had it his way, he wouldn’t want his kids to have anything to do with it, but he knew that Daddy/Uncle Mikey would make sure they would. 

Leo knew that he himself, Don, or Mikey were the fathers of the remaining twins. But even with the scanner, they still couldn’t tell. He knew Mikey was anxious to know if he had one. Don wouldn’t have minded having a little turtle that was like him, as he would want to teach him, or her, what he knew, because he knew he wouldn’t be around forever, and the family needed a doctor and scientist. 

Leo was also anxious to know if he had a child of his own. He would love to have a child of his own to teach the ninja arts to and many other things. But even if he didn’t, he would still teach the twins the ninja arts anyway.   
……………..

As the winter months were approaching, and there was more of a chill in the air all of the time, April came up with the idea for a baby shower for Leo. She knew he was going to need some warm clothes and blankets and bedding for the little ones other than just incubators. 

She spoke to the family in secret when he was having his afternoon nap. 

All but Raph was overjoyed at the thinking of making and buying stuff for the babies. They agreed to throw Leo a surprise baby shower. Besides, April knew Leo was bored of being down in the lair while his brothers got to have all of the fun topside. They began the preparations. 

The family was going to head up to the farmhouse in early December. Also while preparing for the baby shower, secretly, April and Leatherhead went up to the farmhouse to prepare the infirmary part of the house for Leo’s operation when it was time. They had Don’s permission to use the Battle Shell. 

With all of the excitement in preparing for the babies, Raph felt left out of everything. He didn’t mind giving gifts on birthdays and Christmas as long as he knew it was what someone might need, but this baby shower thing was something different. He would have to get something ‘cutesy’ and he wasn’t into that, but he knew he would have to, or his whole family could turn against him. 

All the gifts would be stored at April’s in a storage closet until it was time for the baby shower. They would do it on Thanksgiving Day, as they would be celebrating what they were grateful for, having a great feast and all, but also wanting to give Leo a great day too. The family had a few weeks to get their choice of gift picked out. 

While April and Leatherhead had borrowed the Battle Shell for a weekend, Raph still had his Shell Cycle. He often took it out to get some air and clear his head when he wasn’t roughing up bad guys with Casey. 

Raph took his bike out of the city one night to do some thinking. He knew that no matter how much he wanted Leo to get rid of the babies, he had to come to accept this. The babies were coming and there was nothing he could do about it. Finally, he came to a decision: The babies could be born, but he would be keeping a very close eye on them to make sure they didn’t turn into something dangerous later on. But he would also be keeping his distance from them, as he just wasn’t all that into kids. 

It was a chilly night out and Raph had on some clothes. Fine, he would make his contribution to the baby shower too. He knew Leo would want him to as well as the rest of the family. It might make Leo think he didn’t love him if he didn’t get him a baby gift. 

It was still early evening and he looked for a baby gift shop that was still open. He left his motorcycle outside and went inside to look at what things babies needed. 

He couldn’t really decide and ended up asking for some help. He had never had to get baby things before so he had no idea what to shop for. 

“Are you new at this, Sir?” The woman shopkeeper asked. “Are you becoming a new dad?” 

“Me? No! But, my… uh… brother is becoming a new dad and I want to get the babies gifts for a baby shower. There are two on the way.” Raph said. 

“I know the perfect gifts.” She said and led Raph to where there were baby pack carriers. “With these, he could carry both babies around or just one if he wants to, or the mom could do the same. Or anyone. You take the babies shopping and it leaves your hands free to grab what you need.” She gave an example. 

“Cool! I’ll take two of ’em!” Raph exclaimed. 

He had money on him, and even with the prices, he bought two pack carriers. He also had them gift wrapped. But he knew he had to keep them secure on his bike. 

He secured them on his bike before he drove off carefully. He had them in his jacket. Then he went to April’s to give the package to her. 

April couldn’t let the red banded turtle leave though without giving him a lecture. 

“Raphael, thanks for the gift, but you have got to give in and accept that Leonardo is going to have these babies.” She scolded. 

“I have, April. I’m sorry for being so cold, since he got back, about him being pregnant, but it’s just been that I’ve been so worried about him. I just don’t want anything to happen to him, April. It just ain’t normal what’s happening to him.” Raph explained. 

“I promise you, Raph, that Donny, Leatherhead and I will all take good care of him. We won’t let anything happen to him when the time of delivery comes. And yes, your fear is understandable. It isn’t normal, but Leo’s been doing everything right and taking care of himself. And the babies seem to be like normal babies.” April said. 

“Aside from the birth, it’s just the fear of Bishop wanting to create something to destroy us was also on my mind.” Raph said. 

“We will all watch them, but I’m sure they’re just cute, little innocent turtles, Raph.” 

“They betta’ be. I gotta go.” 

“Be careful.” 

Raph went back out and took off. He had now contributed to the baby shower.   
……………..

As the month of November wore on, it was getting colder outside and the turtles were trying to venture out more on the warmer nights. In clothes too if they had to. 

Leonardo was getting more restless all the time. He longed for action outside the lair so badly, but knew that he couldn’t. At twenty nine weeks along now, his stomach was pretty big. 

He still went for walks in the sewers, but with the increased weight on his back, he had to stop doing some of his katas. But during most of the days when he was awake, he had to be sitting down with his legs supported. His legs did swell now and hurt at times. His back also hurt terribly. 

The twins still kept him up at night and he was often more tired and grumpy with having hardly any sleep. And the movements could even be a little painful, but not too bad just yet. 

His family tried to do what they could for him to make him comfortable, but it was so hard to find some of the right words to say. 

Raph kept his distance now more than ever. And he thought he was the grumpy one. But he would help his brother to his feet if needed. He just kept his mouth shut. 

Mikey just tried to stay on Leo’s good side. For example, Mikey would often offer Leo foods that he wanted or needed. Leo would refuse to eat anything other than healthy foods. Leo just wanted the best foods for his twins. 

But it wasn’t unusual for Leo to have cravings for some sweet foods, but he didn’t want to give into those cravings. He would find something else to eat instead. 

Don mainly stuck to his lab, but was always willing to help Leo if needed.

Master Splinter felt helpless to see the changes that his son was going through and he had never gone through this experience before, so he didn’t know how to handle all the things going on. He just tried to give advice when needed and act like an expectant grandfather.


	22. Chapter 22

Agent Johnson was back in New York to try to find the pregnant turtle. Despite Agent Johnson’s failures, Bishop had allowed him to have as many commandoes as he needed. 

It had been well over three months since Leonardo had escaped from Agent Johnson’s custody. The man knew that the turtle would head back to New York. He had found no signs of the turtle in Nebraska following the helicopter stealing. That turtle was a crafty one. 

Johnson knew that he had to find Leonardo before it was time for the remaining two babies to be born. Agent Bishop needed the DNA from those valuable babies. And he knew the turtle wouldn’t part with the babies so easily. He would find a way to subdue Leonardo and get the babies out of him when it was time. 

………………..

One night, a week before Thanksgiving, Don, Raph, and Mikey were out on patrol. It was a warmer night for once and they didn’t have any clothes on other than their typical gear and weapons. 

Seven commandoes were patrolling in a chopper and they spotted the three turtles on the rooftops. 

“Agent Johnson, three of the turtles have been spotted.” 

Johnson perked up at that. “Pursue them, get a tracker on one of them. We might be able to find Leonardo that way.” 

“Yes, Sir.” 

The humans pursued the trio of turtles. 

At one stop, Don saw they were being followed from the air. “Guys, I think we have trouble.” He said, pointing. 

“Bishop’s helicopter! Don’t let them shoot you! Run!” Raph ordered. 

The three of them ran for their lives. Some darts and trackers in a rounder form were fired from the chopper. 

The darts were not tranquilizers though. They were also trackers. They were meant to be distracters while the rounder trackers were to land on any one of the turtles’ shells. But there were tranquilizer darts too, if they were needed. 

The reptiles continued to get away. Then the order came to tranquilize them, then get a secure tracker on one turtle. 

It didn’t matter how much Don, Mike, and Raph tried to get away, darts were still fired at them, and they had gotten a few in their skin. They had only hurt them moments before, but now, darts were being fired again and this time, all three of them were hit in an arm or a leg and they began to get sleepy. But none would leave the others. In no time, all three were asleep on a roof. 

The commandoes came down and checked out the turtles. Then one of them placed a secure tracker under the shell of Donatello, under one of his shell plates just next to the skin on his side. They were going to lead the humans to their lair whether they liked it or not, and Johnson was going to get his pregnant turtle back.  
……………….

The turtles soon came to and found themselves still on the rooftop and found no humans around. They looked themselves over and saw the small wounds inflicted from the darts but there were none around. Otherwise, they were just fine. 

“We have to get back underground and tell Leo that the commandoes were after us.” Don said. 

“No kiddin’. Let’s go!” Raph said. 

The commandoes were now out of the chopper and were following the signal. They made sure that they kept a distance. 

The turtle brothers got down from the rooftops and got into the sewers again. 

The commandoes waited a little bit, and then followed them down and toward their lair no doubt. They called in double reinforcements.   
……………

When they finally came back to the lair, they immediately spilled the beans to Leo and Splinter, who had been meditating together. 

“You don’t think they’re trying to find Leo, do ya?” Mikey asked. 

“I’m sure that’s exactly what they’re doin’.” Raph said. 

“But they didn’t take any of us this time.” 

“There must be something else at work if they didn’t take any of you.” Leo said. 

Then, all of a sudden, noises started coming from outside the lair that sounded like blasting. All of the turtles and Splinter stood up, taking out their weapons. 

“What’s going on?” Mikey asked nervously. 

“I don’t know.” Don said. 

“We’re about to find out.” Leo said. Even he had his katanas ready. 

“Stay behind us, Leonardo.” Splinter said. 

Leo wanted to lead the attack, but knew that he had to stay back. 

The wall near the satellite television monitors exploded and several commandoes came storming in. 

“Commandoes!” 

“How did they find us?” Don exclaimed. 

“Doesn’t matter how! Now to kick some butt.” Raph said. 

The family attacked except for Leo and Don. Don stayed near Leo to protect him. 

“Give us the blue masked one and we may let you live.” A commando was talking. 

“Never! You will not have my son again!” Splinter growled and hit the commando’s gun away and hit him in the stomach and the head. 

Raph and Mikey had fun hitting and knocking out many commandoes. 

Then, some giant footsteps could be heard. The attack stopped. And the same wall got a bigger explosion and in wheeled some giant tanks. 

“No!” Leo whispered. 

“Stay behind me, Leo.” Don said. 

“Turtles! So good to see you all again. Ah, and Leonardo! Just the one I wanted to see.” It was the voice of Agent Johnson. “Nice home, mutants, but now, it’s over!” 

“You ain’t never gettin’ my brother again!” Raph yelled. 

“We’ll see, Red.” Johnson said. 

Leo kept his stomach hidden behind Don’s back. 

Many more commandoes came in and attacked. The Turtles and Splinter were fighting the hardest that they could. But eventually, Don got pulled away from Leo and Leo was surrounded. 

The humans could see Leo’s delicate condition and the pregnant turtle had a hand on his stomach and a sword in the other hand. 

“Leave me alone!” Leo warned. 

But the men came in anyway, in an attempt to corral Leo. 

“Don!” Leo cried out. 

“Leo!” Don heard Leo’s cry for help, but was too busy locked in combat, and was hit in the face and knocked down. And the tracker slipped out of Don’s shell. 

Leo still remembered his old ways of fighting. He cut up the guns. He hated to jump about, but it was leaving him no choice. But then, he saw Mikey was closer to him now and he saw he was in trouble. 

There were some humans in here that were martial artists too and they were no trouble to take out, but Mikey was overwhelmed. 

Leo jumped across one of the walkways. The landing hurt, and made him pause for a moment. 

“Get back here, Turtle!” 

Leo ignored the one who had been after him and continued over to Mikey. He also noticed something else, one of the machines was aiming at Mikey. 

“Mikey, move!” Leo shouted to his baby brother. 

There was a blast and Leo shoved Mikey out of the way as the blast traveled overhead and blasted into the room that headed into Don’s lab. 

Mikey landed safely, but Leo was flung hard into a wall and debris fell from the ceiling. 

Leo saw it coming and knew he couldn’t move fast enough. He quickly protected his head. He just hoped his babies would be alright. 

Most of the debris landed close to Leo, but a good deal of small stuff landed all around him until he was buried.

“NO!” Don cried out. He saw Leo’s predicament and his lab was most likely ruined now, including the incubators. 

Raph was closer to Leo. He went over to get Leo out of the debris. 

The place was beginning to cave in. 

“Don, get Mikey and get out of here! Splinter, go, I’ll get Leo!” Raph ordered. 

The orders were followed. They could no longer stay here. 

“No you don’t, Turtles!” Johnson said. 

Commandoes were still around and were firing. The shots were only for stunning. 

Raph got to Leo and dug him out. “You ok, Bro?” 

“I think so.” Leo said. 

“Good. Come on. We have to go.” Raph helped Leo to his feet and they went out another way and into the sewers. They would go to April’s. 

“You fools! You were not to harm the turtle I wanted!” Johnson snapped. “Now he’s gone again! Find him!” 

Commandoes followed the trail, but all the smoke made them lose Leo and Raph’s trail. But they went different ways to try to find them. 

The two of them had hidden in a nearby tunnel. 

Leo was in an incredible amount of pain. He was no longer used to all of that activity. Raph was keeping close to him. “You sure you’re ok?” 

“My stomach just hurts, Raph. I need to sit down.” Leo said. 

Raph had Leo’s arm over his shoulder. He slipped it off and let Leo sit down. “Ok, just relax, Bro. I’ll get ya out of here.” Raph then went to check the perimeter. 

Leo couldn’t believe this was happening. He and his family had just lost another home! And he was right at the beginning of his third trimester! They had nothing left! 

Mikey had found his cat, but he and Don were struggling to get away from the commandoes. They would attempt to lose the humans and then go to April’s or Leatherhead‘s. They just hoped Leo and Raph were ok. They had seen Splinter get out and were sure he was fine. 

When Mikey and Don were further away from the lair, they bumped into Splinter. 

“Are you two alright?” Splinter asked. 

“Well enough, just covered in dart cuts and bruises from the fight.” Don said. 

“Have you seen Raphael and Leonardo?” 

“No, Sensei. We were hoping they were with you.” Mikey said. 

“And Leo needs to be scanned as soon as possible to make sure this didn’t harm the babies.” Don said. 

“Yes. Another reason to find them.” Splinter said. 

They went looking for the others, but had to still fight off many commandoes. This was going to be another hard time in their lives with no home to go back to.


	23. Chapter 23

Leo and Raph managed to make it to April’s basement. They both at times had had to fight off commandoes and even had to resort to swimming to get away from those maniacs. By the time they got upstairs, Leonardo was completely exhausted. 

He was breathing hard and holding his stomach. Raph knocked on April’s door and she let them in. She saw Leo and said in alarm, “Leo, what’s wrong?” 

“We were attacked by commandoes at our home!” Raph answered for his tired brother. “Now we just need a place to rest. We lost the commandoes, don’t worry.” 

“They just better not come here, Raphael. My husband and I don’t need to lose our home as well.” April scolded. 

Casey came upstairs from the store. He was in shock when he saw the condition of the two turtles. 

“What happened?” 

“Bishop’s cronies attacked and destroyed our home.” Raph said. 

“What’s wrong with Leo?” Casey asked. 

“He’s exhausted. Just hope nothin’s wrong.” Raph said. 

Then Casey said, “Raph, you’re bleedin!” 

Raph looked down at where Casey was pointing, and saw blood running down his left leg from a cut on his thigh. “Was neva’ even aware of it.” 

“Let’s get that cleaned up.” April said. “But first,” She went over to Leo. “Are you ok, Leo?” 

“I’ll be ok once I catch my breath again, April. Watch out for the others, they might come here too, or go to Leatherhead’s.” 

“I will.” She said. Then she turned to Raph. She led him into the bathroom and got the first aid kit out. 

April managed to stop the bleeding, stitched it up, as it had been a deep cut, and bandaged it up. Raph had put on a brave face the whole time while the needle had been going through his skin. He might have not have felt it as much with all the adrenaline in his system at the moment. 

When they left the bathroom, they found Leo asleep on the couch. 

“The poor guy just passed out.” Casey said. 

“Who could blame him. He shouldn’t have been in that situation in his condition.” April said. 

They let him sleep while they all sat down and talked. Soon, the adrenaline did wear off and Raph began to feel the pain from the cut, though he had no idea what he cut himself on, but stuff happens in a big fight like that and trying to help his big brother in a hurry to get away.   
……………

Don, Mikey, and Splinter all went to Leatherhead’s home. He hated to hear that Bishop was at it again. He would do anything to destroy their lives. Then Leatherhead checked them all over for serious injuries. They were all ok aside from a lot of bruises. 

“Have you seen Leonardo?” Leatherhead asked. 

“No. We had hoped he and Raph had made it here, but they might have gone to April’s too.” Don said. 

“Here, use my phone to call her.” The croc advised. 

Don used the shell cell and called April’s. 

April picked up. “Hello?” 

“April? It’s Don. Have you seen or heard from Leo and Raph? We are here at Leatherhead’s.” 

“Yes. They are here.”

“They made it to April’s.” Don said to the others then talked to April again. “Are they alright?” 

“Leo is exhausted, and Raph hurt one of his legs in the skirmish.” 

“How bad is it?” Don asked. Mikey and Splinter perked up at that. 

“What happened?” Mikey asked. 

“Shh! He will tell us.” Splinter said. 

“He just cut his thigh on something. It was kind of deep and bleeding pretty bad. I stitched it up and Raph can still walk on it. He’ll be fine in a few weeks.” 

“That’s good. But how’s Leo?” 

“He’s sleeping. He was just so exhausted. It took everything out of him.” April said. 

“But he’s not hurt?” 

“No. Not that we can see.” 

“Well, we need to get him here as soon as possible to be scanned to make sure that the twins are ok.” Don said. “We’ll be by in a little while.” 

They hung up with each other. 

“Leo’s ok, just exhausted, but we need to go get him and bring him here. Leatherhead, you may need to come too to help carry him.” Don said. 

“Sure, Donatello.” Leatherhead agreed. 

“And what of Raphael?” 

“He has a hurt thigh, Master Splinter, but he’ll be fine.” 

“We should get going if we want to make sure that Leonardo’s babies are alright.” Leatherhead said. 

“Right.” Don said. 

They all left for April’s.   
…………….

When they got to April’s, they saw that Leo was still asleep on the couch. His breathing was stable and his hands rested on his swollen stomach. 

Before they went anywhere, there was a reunion and Don checked Raph’s thigh just to make sure it was ok. 

“Quit fussin,’ Donny-boy. I’ll be fine.” Raph gave a smile. 

“Yeah, but just take it easy on your leg. Don’t rip the stitches.” Don said. 

“I won’t.” 

“I am proud of you, Raphael. You protected your brother and got him here safely.” Splinter said. 

“Thanks, Sensei.” Raph was sitting in the arm chair. 

“But what are we going to do with no home to go back to?” Mikey asked. 

“For right now, we might have to go to the farmhouse after we check up on Leonardo’s babies.” Splinter advised. 

“Right now, we don’t have a choice. Leo’s in no condition to be doing a lot of walking and packing and we need time for the situation to pass.” Don said with a slight nod. “Yes. We should leave the city as soon as possible.” 

Leatherhead came forward and he picked the sleeping Leo up in his arms and carried him downstairs to the basement exit into the sewers. The other mutants followed. 

“Thank you for your hospitality, April and Casey.” Splinter said before following his sons down to the basement exit. 

“You’re always welcome here.” April said.   
……………

They went back to Leatherhead’s home and gently woke Leo up. He was currently lying on a bed. 

“Where am I?” Leo asked. 

“We are in Leatherhead’s home right now, Leonardo.” Splinter said. 

“Father, are you ok?” 

“I am fine, my son. You?” 

“Yeah, just tired.” Then Leo winced. 

“What’s wrong, Leo?” Don asked nervously. 

“Just one of the babies kicked me kind of hard.” Leo replied, rubbing the spot on his belly. 

“We need to make sure nothing happened to them during the battle. Can you let us do an ultrasound?” 

“Yes.” 

The machine was wheeled over and started up. Gel was put on Leo’s belly and the wand added. Leatherhead did the ultrasound. 

The whole family was seeing the baby turtles on screen for the first time. Even Raph was looking. 

The wand moved over Leo’s belly, showing all the body parts of the babies, and the wombs too.

Raph couldn’t believe he was seeing his bro’s babies on that machine. They were so tiny and small. He also got to see them moving around. Then the hearts were played. 

The sounds were amazing to the ones who hadn’t heard them yet. 

“Despite the battle and stress, I think these last two babies are real fighters, Leonardo.” Leatherhead said. 

Leo smiled and laid his head back in relief. 

“They’re both still alive?” Mikey asked. 

“Yes.” The croc answered as he wiped Leonardo’s belly clean. “But we should also have you scanned too for a more thorough look inside you.” 

Leo consented and cooperated once the gel was cleaned off of him. But he wondered, why did things have to keep on happening? He was nearing the end of his pregnancy and sooner or later, something bad always happened. He could lose the twins too if a good hit of any kind came to his stomach. 

After the scan was done, the twins and Leo’s internal organs were examined. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. 

“Do you have any pain anywhere though?” Don asked. 

“My back. Oh! A little bit in my stomach when they kick me.” Leo winced. “And just muscle strain from not training in so long.” 

“Well, those are to be expected. But you’ll be fine.” 

“So what are you going to do now?” Leatherhead asked. 

“We will stay here through the day tomorrow, and then we will go back to April’s and head up to the farmhouse tomorrow night.” Splinter decided. 

“Sounds like a good idea. I’m wiped out.” Mikey said. 

“Me too.” Raph agreed. 

“I know it’s been a hard night, my sons. But we need to get some sleep. We’ll worry about pulling our lives back together tomorrow.” Splinter said. 

Leatherhead showed his guests to some extra mats he had that could be used for beds. Leonardo was given the softest of the selection and then they all settled down quite fast. 

Raph had a good limp to his walk and tended carefully with his leg while lying down. 

Leo lied down on his left side on his bed. He had his left arm under his head. He was so mad and upset that this had happened. And Thanksgiving was only a week away. 

Don and Mikey shared their bed. Mikey was sure he would have nightmares. Don was more than happy to keep him comforted. 

Splinter stayed up to meditate for a while, but went to bed after his sons were asleep.


	24. Chapter 24

They all slept a good portion of the following day away after being so tired from last night’s skirmish. 

When they got up in the afternoon, Leatherhead gave them all a hearty meal. They were grateful for that. Then they bid him farewell for now and headed back to April’s to get ready for the trip to the farmhouse. 

April and Casey were waiting for them. They waited just till sunset, then piled into April’s minivan and started for the road. They all wished they could have taken some things from the lair, but it would have to wait for another time; a few weeks at least. The commandoes had to have been lying in wait for the Turtles to return. 

On the trip out of town and up to Northampton everyone, including Mikey, were all very quiet. They were all deep in thought and sad at having lost another home, once again. They would try to salvage what they could from the lair when they returned in a few weeks. 

When they got to Northampton, there wasn’t much to unpack and April and Casey would head to town in the afternoon to get some food and supplies. They all went up to their respective sleeping areas and cleaned up a bit, even Leo. Then they all went to bed. 

Before he could even close his eyes for sleep, Don knew that he would have to go back to look for the incubators or he would have to build new ones. That would be the number one thing he would go looking for.   
…………….

When everyone got up the next day, April and Casey were already gone to go get the supplies. Splinter still had Don and Mikey go through their exercises. 

Leo watched and gave pointers. Raph sat beside him. He wasn’t going to be jumping around on that leg. 

Leo looked at Raph beside him and saw that he was sitting real quiet. “Raph.” He began.

“Hmm.” Raph replied without looking over. 

“Thanks for saving my shell back in the lair.” Leo said. 

“I’d be there for ya no matta’ what, Bro.” Raph said, crossing his arms over his plastron. “And I’m sorry for bein’ such a hard ass for so long about this pregnancy. I’m still worried about ya though. Just don’t want anything to happen to ya.” 

“Thanks for your concern, but Raph, I need your support in this. You are my brother, and the twins are going to need all of their uncles in their lives.” Leo said. 

“I’ll be there.” Raph replied, glancing over at Leo.

“Thanks. That’s all I want.” 

April and Casey soon returned with the supplies and the exercises ended. It was time for breakfast. 

Casey, Don, and Mike all helped carry the heavy bags inside. 

Mikey and April cooked some eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon, and toast for breakfast while the others relaxed until it was ready. 

When it was ready, everyone sat at the table and took their fill. April and Casey hadn’t seen how big Leo’s appetite had grown, but then, so had April’s. The two cooks had made sure that there was plenty to go around for everyone, and especially the two pregnant persons. 

Mikey saw how Leo’s and April’s appetites with their babies rivaled his eating habits. They were more mild mannered in eating, but it was the amount of food they were eating. 

After breakfast, everyone was put to work in cleaning up the house, as they hadn’t been here for quite some time, at least since last year when they had been injured. It seemed like such a long time ago, but they were here now and had a lot of cleaning up to do. 

Leo, April, and Raph all had a sort of restriction in the cleaning ways. Leo and April just had to watch how they bent the middle of their bodies. Raph just had to watch his leg. He was careful. Raph wanted to be helping rather than just sitting around anyway. 

Mikey was the most reluctant to do cleaning, but the others were all hard on him to get to work. They needed this place clean and kept clean since there would be babies in this house in a couple of months. 

When Leo was out of earshot at one point, April spoke to the others that they could still have the baby shower at her place in the city when they came back in a few weeks to try to salvage some of their things from the lair. Or it could be held out here if they felt it was needed. The only thing was just trying to get all the gifts out here without Leo seeing them. 

Then Don said, “We could put them in the basement over by the silos.” 

“That may be the best place to put them. It might be in Leo’s best interest not to go back to the city until the pregnancy’s over.” April said. “Just in case.” 

“But he still needs to have his exams done with Leatherhead to make sure the twins are alright.” Mikey pointed out. 

Don said, “Next month, Leatherhead will need to come and stay here as well, so we can make sure we keep everything in order and get things ready for the birth soon.”

It was all agreed. They would just go back to the city, get their stuff and come back. They would have Leatherhead move in towards the end of December. And the baby shower would be held out there.   
……………..

A week later, the family had their Thanksgiving dinner. They were sad about losing their home, but they were all more than grateful that their family had all survived and Leo was most of all grateful for his twins surviving the harshest times of him being pregnant.   
………………

A few weeks later, Leo was now at his thirty-second week. His stomach was pretty big now. He had to watch how he moved around a lot more now. But he needed to be off his feet a lot more now than ever. 

He tried to keep the pains to himself, but his back hurt and he got leg cramps, and some pains in his stomach from the movements putting pressure on his internal organs, hard kicks and rolls, their legs about kicking up into his ribs, making breathing harder, and swollen ankles, as well as more pressure on his bladder. 

Don wanted Leo to rest as much as he could, but he was allowed to get up and walk if he felt too restless.

The most exercise Leo could get now was just walking outside, around the house and walking up and down the stairs. But with the stairs, it was a little slow going for him since he ran out of breath so easily now. 

The family decided now was the time that they would go back to the city and get their needed things. Both the secret baby gifts and their things from the lair. April would stay behind with Leo while the others all went back. They both could use a break from the others watching over them all the time. Raph’s leg was also healed up enough for him to join them. 

Don wanted to stay and keep an eye on his brother, but he knew he needed to go too to see what scientific tools and projects he could save. He really hoped the incubators had made it through the blast. 

The first thing Leo and April did when the others all left was go upstairs to their rooms for one long nap. The babies tired them out to no end.


	25. Chapter 25

It was a few hours to drive back to New York but they got there. Casey parked the van at his house and they all went inside to get the surprise baby gifts for Leo. Then they drove to a road that was close by the park where they would be able to get into the sewers safely. 

After they got into the sewers, the five boys carefully entered the lair. Splinter smelled around to make sure there were no commandoes around. 

“Ever since we left, Bishop’s forces did not stay long when we didn’t come back.” Splinter could smell it in the air. 

“Good. Let’s get what we need and get out of here.” Raph said. 

Everyone went to their rooms, the kitchen, the lab, the dojo, to get what they could fit into the van. 

When Don entered the lab, he saw the Battle Shell was still intact and they could use that to transport their things from here. And Leatherhead was going to need a ride too. But the next thing he did was look for the incubators. 

He found them against a far wall, completely destroyed and he wanted to scream. It made him so mad. He had put a lot of work into those. Now he would have to make new ones. Stupid government humans! 

Don gathered up the incubator remains to see if any of it could be used again to make new ones. He also got his laptop, many of his schematics notes and many other things. He then went to Leo’s room to see if there was anything he knew Leo would want. 

Don checked Leo’s desk and found the stethoscope that LH had given him. He knew Leo would want that for sure. He gathered up his kanji drawings, some of his favorite books and scrolls, his meditation mat and candles. 

Mikey had gathered up some food from the kitchen that was still good and had thrown out the milk in the fridge. 

Raph and Casey had gotten the majority of weapons and weights from the dojo along with the punching bag. 

“Hey guys, the Battle Shell is still intact and we can use that to transport more things.” Don said. 

“Good.” Raph said. 

They went about gathering many more things. But they left enough room for Leatherhead and his ultrasound machine. They were going to need it periodically for this month.

After the van and Battle Shell were loaded with what they could get for now, the family went to Leatherhead’s. Don called him before they left. At least there were still some working shell cells. 

The big croc had some things ready to go when they got there and Leatherhead lifted his ultrasound machine into the back of the Battle Shell. Then he climbed into the back of the truck. He had turned off all the major appliances for the time he would be gone from home. 

After many hours, it was now time to go back to the farmhouse.   
………………

When they got back to the farmhouse, they took all the baby gifts to the basement over by the silos. They took some stuff into the barn, but the most important stuff went inside, like the ultrasound machine. 

April and Leo were having an evening meal when the others had come back. They were just finishing up. 

“There’s plenty of it left for you guys.” April said as she and Leo now left the table to go do other things before it would be time for bed again. 

The guys were all famished. They all served up the meatloaf. Then after dinner, after an hour, Splinter had his three sons do some katas before it was time to settle down for the night. 

Don, Raph, and Mikey took their turns in the shower after the workouts. 

Leo had gone to meditate and was happy his brothers had brought his meditation mat and candles. He sat down on it carefully. It took him a little while to get comfortable because his bulging stomach made things very awkward now. 

Leatherhead wanted to do an exam tomorrow. He had been welcomed with open arms. 

When it was time to go to bed for Leo, Raph was just entering the bedroom when he saw his heavily pregnant brother try to get up. He couldn’t help but try to hide his giggle as he watched Leo struggle to get up. 

“Need some help?” Raph offered with a smile. 

“I think so.” Leo said breathlessly as he gave up and sat heavily back down on the mat. 

Raph came over and gave Leo a hand up. “Maybe you should meditate on your bed from now on until after the babies are born.” 

“Yeah. Maybe I will. It’s getting to be too hard for me to get up off the floor. I can’t even bend over to pick something up off the floor anymore.” Leo said. 

Raph couldn’t help but smirk. But he felt for his brother’s condition now. It was definitely getting harder with his stomach getting bigger all the time. 

Soon, the others joined them and they all went to bed for the night. It had been a long day.   
………………

Back in New York, Agent Johnson and Agent Bishop were planning something for the turtles if they ever caught them again. But they would especially make sure to contain Leonardo with what he carried for them. But if they were never caught again until next year, something else was also planned, but it wouldn’t work until the turtles were recaptured.


	26. Chapter 26

The big day for the baby shower arrived. They had wanted to do it previously on Thanksgiving, but the attack on the lair had set things back. This time, they had scheduled it the day before Christmas. 

After an exam that morning, April was to keep Leo busy in the barn with some things that even a person pregnant as far along as he was could still do. They would do some breathing workouts and just some small exercises. The others were busy setting up the baby shower. 

Towards lunch, the two pregnant friends came inside and it was time for the surprise. 

As they came in to the living room, April made sure Leo went first. 

There was a big “Surprise!” the moment he came in. 

“Agh!” Leo let out a big yelp of shock. He held his chest as it had taken him totally by surprise. 

“What’s going on? Just about give me a heart attack.” Leo asked. 

Leo looked upon the wall by the fire place. The banner read Baby Shower in big blue words. “A baby shower? For me?” 

“Yes. For everything you’ve been through, and with the shortage of supplies back home, you’re going to need baby supplies.” April said. “We were going to throw it on Thanksgiving, but the attack had set back the plans.” 

“Well, we’re still giving you one, just closer to Christmas this time. This is an early Christmas party too so the babies will have plenty of supplies.” Don said. 

“Thanks, guys.” 

“You go sit on the couch and we’ll have lunch and then we’ll do gifts and games.” April said. 

Leo went and sat on the couch and let things go as planned among the family. 

April brought him his lunch. Mikey had done the cooking while April had been keeping Leo busy in the barn and the others had brought in the baby gifts. 

They all had a good lunch, but then, Leo was anxious to see what the others had gotten him for gifts for his unborn twins. 

Since it was colder outside now, Casey had taken the guys shopping in town at different times over the month and they got what they wanted. 

Some books and a radio, a baby name book, toys, blankets, clothes, the baby carriers that Raph had chosen, diapers, a baby care manual, and a playpen. Food would be decided on later next month. 

Don said, “The incubators will be up and running soon. Leatherhead and I are still working on them after they were destroyed in the attack.” 

“Thanks for all the gifts guys.” Leo said. “These are all very nice and we know the twins will need them when the time comes.” 

Then they tried to play games, though it was awkward when they barely knew anything of the fairy tale poems and stories. But they did guess at how big around Leo’s waist was. Leo felt it a little awkward, but did give his consent to have his middle measured. 

Don gave the closest measurement guess possible. 

Then they all went into the TV room and watched some pregnancy videos. Nine Months, Father of the Bride 1 and 2, and even Junior. 

Raph had easily sympathized with the ones in the videos that were wary of the pregnancies. He still was himself, but he wasn’t going to do any harm now. He just had to sit back and let this happen. He knew Leo wasn’t going to change his mind and the babies were nearly done growing inside him. Within a month or so, they would be here in the house with them. 

Then the family and friends went on a baby naming spree, using the baby name book and the computers. Everyone chose two names for each baby, so they had to choose four names. This was all for Leo. April would have a baby shower later on for her child. 

Leo was asleep halfway through looking. It had been a long day. April was ready to sleep too. 

“Let’s go to bed.” Splinter said. “It has been a long day and tomorrow is Christmas.” 

Leo’s brothers gently woke him up and told him it was bedtime. He moaned and they pulled him to his feet.   
He walked upstairs followed by the others. 

The gifts were all left where they were as long as they weren’t in the way. They all settled down and went to sleep.   
…………….

With the next day being Christmas, this was the day that everyone else got their gifts, and Leo got some gifts from the others that were not meant for the twins. Yesterday’s gifts had been all for the babies.

Mikey and April made good food for breakfast, and had lunch and dinner planned too. Today was all about being there for each other. 

After the attack, the mutant family grew closer to each other and their human friends. And with the babies coming, it made life seem so fragile and they couldn’t waste it. 

They had set up the tree and other Christmas ornaments today instead of last night. Leo even helped put decorations on the tree. But he couldn’t be on his feet for very long. The weight of the twins held him down a lot more now. 

They all did some special activities during the day. There was no training either. 

Mikey baked some cookies. Don worked on the incubators some more. Raph and Casey helped move the baby items to the special room that was going to become Leo’s new room when the twins arrived. Splinter and Leo helped to set up the room, as long as Leo didn’t do any heavy stuff. April cleaned the floors a bit and helped set up the new room as well. The bedroom for Leo was meant for him and as a nursery.   
……………..

Within the next few days, Don finally got the incubators fixed up again. He tested them to make sure they gave off plenty of warmth. They did. Leatherhead had also helped him rebuild them. 

Don smiled at the new incubators. They were done and ready to go for when the twins arrived. He went into the house and told Leo the good news.

“The incubators are finally done, Leo. They’re ready for whenever the babies are born.” Don said. 

“Thanks, Donny. I’m sure they’ll work just fine. And I can’t wait to see their little faces.” Leo said. 

“We’re all feeling that way. We’ve seen them on the ultrasound, but want to see them in person more than anything.” 

“One more month to go. It just feels like an eternity for me. I’m more than ready to get slim again and start working out.” Leo said. 

“You won’t be working out even for some time after your surgery, Leo.” Don said. “Your plastron will need time to heal. But you won’t be so bored. You’ll have the twins to take care of.” 

Leo smiled. “True.” 

“Have you gone through the name list yet on what we chose for names to see if you like any of them?”

“Yes. I’ve chosen them, but they’re going to remain my little secret until after the birth.” Leo said. “I want to make sure the names fit the little ones.” 

“Yeah, you want to make sure that names fit. Names are our first step in our identities for our lives.” Don said. 

Leo couldn’t agree more.


	27. Chapter 27

It was getting colder as the days went by. It was January and a lot of snow fell on the ground. 

Now, when the Turtles trained or to do any other activity that was rough, like Raph needing to use his punching bag, they went to the barn. But most days now, they stayed inside and found stuff to do. Don and Leatherhead also worked in the barn as well. 

Leo was in his last few weeks now, and he was more restless than ever. He was in the nesting phase and constantly wanted the place kept clean. Aside from just wanting a clean home for the babies, he wanted something to do as he needed to be off his feet as much as possible as well. 

Leo would often borrow Don’s computer to see how the babies were doing inside him. The babies’ main goal right now was to just get big enough to live outside their ‘mother’s’ body. Pretty much all development was complete. 

He could feel that they must have been getting as restless as he was. There was limited space in his belly for them and their movements were even more painful now. 

Because of the risk of heartburn and his organs being pressed on so much, Leo had to split his meals into several small meals through the day. And he also visited the bathroom multiple times a day. It was just getting old and felt so stupid. 

Being ten weeks behind Leo in pregnancy, April was also feeling miserable at times, but she wasn’t as big as Leo was either. 

While Don and Leatherhead did Leo’s exams here at the farmhouse, April and Casey would take their exams to the hospital that was nearest to Northampton. There was just so much excitement going on expecting little bundles of joy very soon. 

……………….

One morning, Leo was out doing a walk around the yard when he slipped on some ice and slammed down onto his shell. 

He cried out so loud when the weight of both babies slammed into his internal organs. It felt like he had been kicked in the stomach so hard that it totally knocked the wind out of him. 

His father heard him from inside the house while Don and Raph heard from inside the barn. They all rushed outside to see Leo lying on the ground, holding his stomach, eyes closed tightly in pain. 

“Leo, what happened?” Raph asked. 

“Ice!” Leo screamed. “It… hurts!” 

“Let’s get you inside, my son.” Splinter said. 

Don and Raph came forward to help their pregnant brother up. Then Don slipped a little on the ice that Leo had stepped on and knew what Leo was talking about. He avoided falling and moved off of it and continued to help Leo to his feet. 

Leo was panting hard when he was finally standing. He clinched his teeth. “Oh! It hurts!” 

“I’m sure you’ll be fine, but it’s time to go inside and rest.” Don said. 

Raph took one of Leo’s arms and wrapped it around his shoulders and helped him back to the house. It was hard going to get up the stairs. Painful movements inside Leo’s belly had him moaning with every step. 

Soon, Raph got him to his room to where he had to lay down. Leo still had a severe stomachache from the fall, but it was somewhat lessoning up. 

“Are you alright now?” Don asked. 

“Slipping on the ice and having the babies hit me so hard, knocked all the wind out of me. It still hurts, but yeah, I’ll be fine.” Leo said. He was still trying to catch his breath. 

Splinter hated to see his son in pain like this, but then he came up with a decision. “Leonardo, as you are in your last weeks, perhaps it is better that you stay inside now. You don’t need that happening again.” 

“I agree with Master Splinter, Leo. If you had fallen on your stomach, it could harm the babies. Speaking of which, I’m going to get the listening radio that April got at her doctor last time. I want to listen to the babies’ heartbeats to make sure they’re not stressed.” Don said and left the room. 

Don came back moments later with a handheld listening device that Leo had never seen before. Leo, Raph, and Splinter watched as Don turned it on and he put the listener part on Leo’s belly to try to hear the heartbeats. 

It took a lot of moving the listener around, but Don did find one heartbeat. It was beating quite fast. Obviously the fall had it quite stressed. Then Don tried to find the second heartbeat. When he did find the other heart, it too was stressed. 

“Leo, the hearts sound stressed after what happened. You should stay in bed the rest of the day and recuperate. I’ll see how you are later in the day.” Don said. 

The pregnant turtle really hated this. He wanted to do stuff like he normally would. But of course, he would do this for the twins. It wouldn’t have mattered if he wasn’t pregnant, but he was, so he had to cope the best he could. Leo was so ready for the twins to be born. 

They got Leo comfortable in his bed and Don gave Leo a massage to try to soothe him to sleep. It didn’t take Leo long to fall asleep from the soothing feelings of the massage. Seeing that Leo was asleep, Raph and Splinter left the room. 

Don continued working Leo’s aching muscles even after his brother had fallen asleep. He started to rub on Leo’s belly to try to soothe the babies within as well. 

At one point, Don did feel a baby kick out at his hand. He smiled. This baby obviously wanted out soon. It still wasn’t entirely ready yet, but it would get its leg room hopefully in a couple of weeks. Once Don finally finished up with the massage, he left Leo to sleep peacefully.   
…………………

When Don came out of Leo’s room, he and the other family members had a meeting. 

“With Leo being so close to his due date now, we can’t risk anymore stress like that on him.” Don said. 

“So what are suggesting, Donatello?” Splinter asked. 

“I know this is hard on him, but when listening to the babies’ hearts, they were incredibly stressed. Up until the day of the scheduled surgery, I think Leo needs to stay on bed rest. It’s for his and the twins’ own good. He’s had enough stress in his pregnancy already.” Don explained. 

“You know he isn’t going to like that.” Leatherhead said. 

“He doesn’t have to, but if he wants healthy babies, he’s going to have to do this. We all can take turns hanging out with him so he doesn’t get bored in bed.” Don said. “But also be prepared that he’ll have mood swings.” 

April had also been at the meeting and she hoped she wouldn’t have to go on bed rest later on. She felt for Leo so badly. He was nearly at the end of his pregnancy, but had also suffered a lot more stress than she ever had.   
……………….

Leo slept most of the rest of the day away. Don checked in on him just before dinner. He gently shook him awake. 

“Leo. Leo. How are you feeling?” 

Leo groaned. “Tired.”

“I meant are you in any pain?” 

When he got more of his senses back, Leo said, “No. I think the rest helped me get better.”

“It’s almost time for dinner, Leo, but I also have some bad news for you.” Don said.

Leo’s eyes lit up. “Is something wrong with the babies? Or anyone else?” 

“No. But, since the twins were so stressed earlier today, and with you being so close to your due date, we all had a family meeting and we all agree that until further notice, you need to be on bed rest.” 

“Don, I’ll be more careful. Please, I have to be able to get up and move around.” Leo said. 

“Leo, we will find ways to keep you from getting bored, but with the exception of bathroom trips and baths, you are to stay in bed until further notice. Understand? It’s for your and the babies’ own good. You do have a clumsy streak at times and we don’t need you falling down again. We’ll bring you food and games in bed. Promise me that you’ll stay in bed.” Don said. 

As much as he hated this idea the family had come up with, he understood it. “Yes, Donny. I promise. Even though I hate it.” 

“We all had a feeling that you would hate it. But it needs to be done. You can get up and walk around your room a few times a day if you feel like you need to stretch your legs, but no more going downstairs. And now that it is dinnertime, I’ll bring you some of the food and I know you’re upset, but try to eat.” Don said. 

Leo scowled and looked down at his feet. He wasn’t happy about this at all, but he would abide by the rules. He didn’t want to cause the twins anymore stress. 

Don left the room and brought Leo some soup. After the fall that morning, it would be gentle on his stomach. 

Leo accepted the tray, but he didn’t dive into the food right away. 

Don knew he was disappointed, but he still needed to eat. “Please eat, Leo. I know you’re mad, but it’s just to avoid stressing the babies out again.” 

“I’ll be fine, Don. And I’ll eat if you can just please leave me alone.” Leo said. 

“Sure. One of us will be back for the bowl and tray later.” Don said. He knew Leo would react like that, but it needed to be done. 

When Don was gone, Leo just glared at his reflection in the soup. He wasn’t particularly hungry at the moment, but he knew that he needed the nourishment for the twins. 

He looked down at his stomach. “I love you two so much, and would do anything to maintain your safety, but why does all this stress have to keep happening?” 

The only answer he got was some kicks and punches and one of the babies rolled over. There was a slightly painful reaction in his stomach as the baby that rolled. His internal organs must also have been bruised from the fall. 

Leo began eating the soup, hoping it would calm the babies down.

Downstairs, everyone else was upset that Leo wouldn’t be joining them at the table anytime soon. But they all knew it was for the best. 

Mikey went upstairs after dinner to get Leo’s food tray. He saw Leo was looking not too happy. 

“Hey, Leo. I just came up for the tray.” Mikey said. 

“Here. Take it.” Leo grumped. 

Mikey took it, and then said, “If you want, I’m free to hang out.” 

“No, thanks. I just want to be left alone for a while to think.” Leo said. 

“Ok, but let us know if you need or want anything.” Mikey said. 

“You know I will.” Leo said. 

Mikey left the room a little upset. He wanted to hang out with his big brother but Leo didn’t want to. Hopefully, at some point, he would want to when he felt like it. 

Leo didn’t want to talk to anyone else the rest of the night. He only got up for bathroom runs and it was back to bed.


	28. Chapter 28

The next day, Leo’s anger at being put on bed rest had lightened up some more. He didn’t like being in this situation until it was time to have his twins.

Leo sat up in bed and tried his best to meditate. He wanted to clear all the negative energy out of his system if he was going to accept this. 

Raph brought him his breakfast that morning and caught him in meditation. “Yo, Leo, time for breakfast.” He said as goofy as he could. 

Leo heard him and opened his eyes. “Thanks, Raph.” He accepted the tray of food once he settled down again. 

Raph sat down on the bed. Leo looked up at him. “What, Raph?” 

“I know you’re mad about this having to happen, Leo, but if ya want the babies born soon, this has to happen. Ya were the one who made the choice of carrying the little guys or girls to term.” Raph said. 

“I know I did, Raph, but I didn’t expect this to happen.” Leo said. “If I hadn’t fallen yesterday, it might be different.” 

“Maybe, maybe not. Since you told us about the other two, Don and Leatherhead might have made you do it anyway in the last weeks. They have you scheduled for surgery next week. It’s not that long, big bro. You’ll make it until then.” Raph said.

“Next week still feels like a long way off. Ngh!” Leo winced. 

“What?” 

Leo let out a breath. “It was one powerful kick.” He put his hand on where he felt it. 

“Maybe he’s hungry?” 

“Maybe.” 

“Is it still kicking?” 

“Yeah, why?” Leo asked.

“I know I haven’t been as into it as everyone else, but can I-?” Raph hesitantly reached out his hand. 

Leo nodded his head. “Sure.” 

Leo took Raph’s hand and put it where he was feeling the kicking. 

Raph felt weird about doing this, but he was a little curious. Suddenly, there was a good sized bump under his hand. He opened his mouth in shock. 

Leo smirked. “Not what you expected?” 

“I’ve just- never felt anything like that before.” 

“Raph, when I woke up all those months ago and found out that this happened to me, I wasn’t sure what to think at first. But how was I going to? When I felt all lonely in that facility, it did bring a certain part of me to realize that they were my only family there, and they were depending on me to keep them safe and give them nourishment. Of course I still am, but back then, you have no idea how hard it was for me to find out that the first one and later, the second one, had died. I was doing everything just right.” Leo began to cry. 

“It’s going to be ok, Leo. Ya won’t let these two down.” Raph tried to comfort him with his words before Leo really broke down. 

“Sorry. I just can’t help it. And yes, I won’t let them down.” Leo wiped his eyes. 

“And if ya think about it, with all the stress from the attack, these last two were meant to be fighters. They have survived it all. One of them must be yours.”

That thought did bring a smile to Leo’s face. “True. I know I am a fighter to have gone through all I did and still kept them out of evil hands. I will never let Bishop or Johnson get their hands on my babies.” 

“Don’t forget that they still share DNA with possibly Don and Mikey too. And we are all fighters.” 

“Yeah, you all are. We’ve seen each other through rough times in the past and we are going to get through this as well. This is just the newest tough challenge I have yet to face, and then we all have to take care of and raise them.” Leo declared.

“Yeah. Well, it’s been nice talkin’, but your breakfast is gettin’ cold. I should go now. I’ll see ya later, Leo.” Raph said and left the room. 

Leo smiled as he watched his red banded brother leave the room. At least Raph had come around to accept everything that was happening. He settled down and ate his breakfast.   
……………….

Don and Leatherhead were now checking on the twins every few days. With the scheduled surgery just days away, they wanted to make sure everything was alright until then. 

As Leo lay on the table, seeing his kids on the screen, it made him want that dream to become reality, to finally hold them in his arms. But he also dreaded the surgery at the same time. What if something went wrong with him or the twins? There was that risk yes, but it was the only way the twins could be born successfully. 

Leonardo had made it to thirty eight weeks along and it had felt like a long time. He thought that this week would never come. 

“You’ve done a marvelous job in taking care of yourself, Leonardo. Though this pregnancy was not natural for you, you have made it through many hard months and you’ve been through a lot.” Leatherhead told him proudly. 

“Thanks, Leatherhead.” 

“And the toughest challenge will begin as soon as they are outside of your body.” 

“Yeah, but I’ve carrying them all this time and I won’t let them down. It is a new time in mine and my family’s life. We don’t even have a lair anymore. But in time, we will find one when warmer weather returns. We can’t stay up here forever.” Leo said. 

Then Don spoke up. “Leo, I know you have done really well throughout this pregnancy, but should anything go wrong during the surgery, like too much blood loss, we will need blood to save you.” 

“We do need to be prepared for anything, Leonardo.” Leatherhead agreed. 

“Yeah, I know. Alright, take it.” Leo said. 

“No, we aren’t going to take it from you. My blood is compatible with yours, should anything happen. But I do want to take a little blood sample to make sure your blood count isn’t too low or too high.” Don said. 

Leo’s arm was prepped for just a little blood to be taken. Then it was Don’s turn to have some good amount of blood taken for an emergency in case one might happen.

“It’s amazing that you don’t take that much from me, but you take a lot from yourself.” Leo said. 

“Leo, yes, you may have a lot more blood circulating right now, but you need all of that blood to help you sustain looking after the babies.” Don said. He felt a little woozy after giving some of his blood. Leatherhead then put a patch up over the wound. 

Don rubbed his arm after he got up from the chair. 

“If there is something wrong, I have to know.” Leo said. 

“And we’ll be sure to tell you. Back to bed now.” Don said. 

“I know.” Leo went back to his room. The weight of the twins almost felt like too much anymore when he was on his feet.   
…………….

During his last two weeks of pregnancy, Leo had stayed in bed most of the time like he was supposed to, but still got up when he felt restless or needed a bathroom break. When he got up when it was training time in the daytime, he would stare at the barn while his family was out there. He still missed training terribly. Now he couldn’t even exercise anymore. 

At one point, Don had brought up the subject that he didn’t mean to hurt Leo’s feelings at all, but if all four babies were still inside him, his stomach would be much bigger and he would have had to be on bed rest a lot sooner than that. Any number higher than one was a risk, but twins were the lower risk kind of multiples than higher numbers. But even carrying one had its challenges too. 

April had spent a good deal of time hanging out with Leo. She understood him the most. But Leo did let his other family members and friends hang out with him as well to keep him entertained when he didn’t feel like sleeping. 

Playing cards and board games, talking, doing breathing techniques with April, and meditation were the main ways Leo was kept entertained. Though he found some of them entertaining, Leo wasn’t up for many kinds of games. He was just plain restless no matter what went on. 

Leo felt useless just sitting here in bed on his shell for so long. He wanted the twins to be born so he could heal and get back to being like he was before. He was tired of depending on everyone to feed him and bathe him. He was tired of feeling and being fat.

One night, Leo had a weird dream. 

'"Please… save my babies.” Leo said weakly. “Don’t let them die.” 

“Leo, we won’t let them die.” Don said. 

“Thanks.” Then Leo blacked out. 

“Leo? Leo? LEO!” Don cried out. 

Then the machine started giving off a straight out BEEP. 

Then, Leo thought he saw his body and Don and Leatherhead holding two little bundles that started to cry. And why wasn’t he moving? He wanted to hold his little ones. But then, something had gone wrong delivering the twins and Leo had given his life for theirs. 

“No. It can’t be. I wanted to be there to watch them grow up and name them.” Leo said. 

Then later, he saw how heartbroken his family was when they heard the news that he had died after the babies were born. 

“I knew Leo carrying those babies was a mistake!” Raph screamed. “They killed him!” 

“Raph, we will take care of them as Leo would want us to.” Don said, tears streaming down his face.

“I want nothing to do with those little monsters! They killed him!” Raph screamed again. 

“No.” April was crying really hard, holding her stomach, to cradle her unborn baby. Casey had his arms wrapped around her. 

Mikey was crying as he was holding a baby that looked like Leo. It was Leo’s son. 

Splinter held the other baby, another one that looked like Leo. Another son. 

Leo was sad that he couldn’t be there to raise his two sons. But he knew his family would try to go on without him.' 

Leo woke up, panting heavily. He looked down at his stomach. It was still pretty swollen. He lay back down. It was just a dream, but it had felt so real. 

“I won’t give up on you two. Not now, not ever.” Leo held his belly. “I will be there to watch you grow up and I will be the one to teach you the ninja arts.” 

Then, the thought occurred to him about the sexes. Was he having two sons? But what if he was wrong? He would accept them no matter what they were. 

Leo didn’t want to reflect on the dream. He would make it through the surgery. He wouldn’t bring it up to the family because he knew it might cause concern over him, but he still dreaded not being able to raise his sons.


	29. Chapter 29

The big day had finally arrived for the surgery and Leo could finally have his twins. It had been nine long months. He had made it to thirty nine weeks and nothing had happened. 

Leo did know that he had been scheduled for his surgery, but while waiting for the big day, he had wondered if he would go into labor or not. Well, he never had. 

The twins were kicking and pushing so much inside him that the movements were painful now. He was more than ready to have them taken out. 

When the time came, Leatherhead helped him up from his bed, and he and Don escorted him to the infirmary part of the house. 

The infirmary had been cleaned to the last detail and kept sterile. It was time for the excitement to begin! 

Raph, Mikey, Splinter, and Casey all waited anxiously outside the infirmary. 

Leo was helped to lie down on the table. He was hooked up to a heart monitor and would be hooked to a respirator. Then they washed up. 

“Am I going to be awake or asleep through this?” Leo asked. 

“Leo, you’re going to need to be asleep during this. There’s no way you could have an epidural for this like a woman could.” April said. She had joined Don and Leatherhead. She was now washing up. 

Leo began to panic. He raised himself up in a panicky mode. “Don! I had a bad dream! I was awake and I was dying! I want to be there for my kids!” 

“Leo, relax. It was just a dream. I promise, we will take very good care of you. We won’t let anything happen to you.” Don said, hugging his scared brother. 

“Raph hated them again. He might have tried to kill them later.” Leo cried. 

“Raph won’t try to kill them. We’ll keep them safe, just as you would.” 

“Leo, you need to calm down. This stress is not good for the babies. We will get them out of you and get you awake as quickly as possible so you can see them.” April said. 

Leo managed to calm down and he was laid back down. The others continued to prep him. 

A needle was put into his right arm and not long after, the sedative was given. Leo went to sleep. 

The respirator tube was put down Leo’s throat to make sure he got help to breathe while he was out. Then Leatherhead wiped down Leo’s swollen stomach. He cleaned it up and put the sterile sheets over his body. 

April would be in charge of his vitals as Don and Leatherhead would do the operation. At least until the babies were born. Then she would be in charge of cleaning them up and get them into blankets. And she would still watch Leo’s vitals. 

Once everything was ready, it was time to get the babies out of Leo. 

Leatherhead felt Leo’s plastron. It had softened up as it had swollen out over the months, but it still had a certain hardness to it. 

“It feels soft enough to where I don’t need the saw after all. I was worried about using the saw might hurt the babies.” Leatherhead said. 

“That’s good that you don’t have to use the saw, but use the scalpel. We need to get the babies out of him. There’s only a certain amount of time before something could go wrong.” Don said. 

Leatherhead picked up the scalpel and began cutting alongside the lower scute line, where Leo’s belt would have been. Blood began appearing as the cut was made. 

Don used a sucker to suck up the blood. This felt like the oddest thing he had ever done, but he would see this through and save Leo and his babies. 

Leatherhead continued to cut all the way across, then he and Don switched jobs. Don had smaller hands and arms. 

Don opened the incision up and he cut away at the tissue from the plastron and found two big, red balls inside Leo’s belly. They weren’t connected to each other, but they were connected to some tissues along the plastron. 

Don used the scalpel to cut into the first red ball, and within a couple minutes, Don pulled out a squirming baby turtle. April rushed over to help expel the mucus in the baby’s airway. Then it began to cry. Leatherhead got the glory of cutting the umbilical cord. 

Outside the infirmary, the family heard a baby cry! 

“The first one is here!” Mikey shouted excitedly. 

“We know, shell for brains. They’ll tell us what they are when ready.” Raph said. 

Back in surgery, Don handed the first baby to April. She rushed it over to get it cleaned up. Then Don went back to work on the twin and did the same thing. 

April came back over and got the second baby once the cord was cut and it cried after its airway was cleared. 

The family cheered again. 

Once the babies were out, Don picked up a cauterizing tool and he began cutting along the tissues on the plastron to disconnect the alien wombs. He burned where he cut so there wasn’t any major bleeding. After what seemed like forever, he pulled out the alien wombs, one at a time, and laid them aside on a tray for study later. 

Leatherhead sucked up excess blood. “We have done it, Donatello.” The croc said proudly. 

Don sighed heavily in relief. “Yes. But now we have to get Leo patched up and woken up.” 

April had by now finished wrapping the twins up in blankets to keep them warm. To help prevent bacteria growth, the room was kept cold. 

“April, what were the sexes?” Don asked. 

“There was one boy and one girl.” April replied. 

Don went back to patching up Leo’s belly. Once the plastron was put back down, he used some epoxy glue and cover to patch the incision. Leo’s belly was also quite noticeably a little flatter, but still held a little fat. He would lose it in time. 

Once he was patched up, Leatherhead put Leo on the recovery bed. His vitals were strong and stable. The tube was taken out of his throat and he was still hooked to the IV. He was now going to be able to wake up. 

April and Don took the babies out to introduce the twins to the family. April had the girl and Don had the boy. 

“Here you go guys.” April said. “Meet the twins. One boy and one girl.” 

“Awww!” The other guys were in awe of them. 

Since they were warm, the babies had quieted down now. As the family looked at them, they noticed the skin tones on them. 

The girl looked more like Don and the boy looked like Mikey. 

“Looks like Don and Mikey are the fathers of these two.” Casey said. 

“Poor Leo. The one that he didn’t get to see must have been his.” Don said. He looked at his daughter carefully. “He’s still welcome to take care of them though. He did a wonderful job caring for them all this time.” 

Raph looked at the little innocent turtles just as carefully. They didn’t look dangerous. In fact, their small size, little grasping hands that were out now, and little faces made his expression soften greatly. Why had he hated them for so long? He regretted it now. 

But still, they had been created by Bishop’s Agent Johnson. They had been made by government cronies. That’s why Raph was still a little worried. Then he asked, “How’s Leo doin’?” 

“He was fine, Raphael. He’s resting off the sedative.” Leatherhead answered. 

Raph had seen Don’s daughter and Mikey’s son. Now he wanted to check on Leo. He was allowed into the infirmary to check on him. 

He found Leo sleeping peacefully. He sat down on a chair and waited for him to wake up. 

After the babies were done being held and fussed over, they were taken to their incubators that were there in the infirmary. They all knew that Leo would ask for them when he woke up. He would want to know that they were safe and close by.


	30. Chapter 30

Within an hour, Leo started to wake up. 

Raph noticed the moan and Leo’s eyes starting to open. He stood up, wanting to be the first thing Leo saw. 

“Hey, Leo. How are you feeling?” Raph asked, his voice just above a whisper. 

It took a few moments for Leo’s vision to focus. “Tired. Not sure of much else.” 

“Ya did good during the surgery.” 

When Leo heard that, he had an instant reaction and looked down at his belly. It was flatter now. “The babies? Where are my babies?” 

“They’re right over there.” Raph pointed at the incubators. 

Leo tried to sit up so that he could see. “What are they?” 

“There is one of each gender.” Raph answered with a smile, gently pushing on Leo’s shoulders to keep him from hurting himself. 

“Does their skin color indicate who their fathers are?” 

“Yes,” Raph nodded. “The girl is Don’s, and the boy is Mikey’s.” 

Though he tried not to feel disappointed, Leo looked on sadly at Raph’s words.

“We’re all sorry, Leo,” Raph soothed.

After all the work he had done to get the babies through the pregnancy, he figured one would have been his. Those government cronies were going to pay for that one day. 

“You’ll still be involved in their lives, Leo.” A new voice said. 

“Huh? Oh, hi, April.” Leo said. 

“I know it was bad news that one wasn’t yours, but you are like the mother of the twins. You’ll still get to take care of them and be there for them.” The redhead said. 

“I know, but I thought that while the twins made it all through the tough times, I thought mine would have been a fighter, like me.” Leo said sadly. 

Raph didn’t like to see his brother cry. “What if those scum told you the baby was dead, but really wasn’t?” 

Leo looked at Raph. “No. I know it was dead, Raph. They had moved the ultrasound wand all over my stomach and I heard heartbeats in four different places. When it was first starting out, there were four that I had heard. When both babies died, I didn’t hear their hearts those times. I know they were both dead.” Leo explained. 

“It’s so hard to lose a child or children that you were wanting so badly.” April said. “I’m glad mine has been doing ok all this time. It hasn’t given me much trouble at all.” 

“Are you going to find out the gender?” Leo asked. 

“I’ve waited all this time.” April shrugged. “I figured I would wait.” 

“But you have the option to find out what you are having.” Leo argued

“I know, but the sex is a prize worth waiting for.” She said. “Casey’s been fine with waiting too. Though at times, he still is in the mode of trying to get used to fatherhood.” 

“It hasn’t really begun for him yet.” Raph said. 

“No, but the idea of fatherhood takes getting used to.” April said. “Just as the idea of motherhood.” 

“Yeah, it does. I know the feeling,” Leo said, “and I feel like I’ve gone through both. Can I see the twins now that I’m more awake?” 

“Of course you can.” April said. She went over and moved the incubators closer to Leo’s bed. 

Leo tried again to sit up in bed. He grunted in pain when he felt pain shoot through his lower belly. 

“Take it easy. Don gave you some pain meds through your IV, but you can still feel some pain when you move, Leo. And we will need to get you up and walking soon.” April said as she assisted Leo. 

“I don’t know if I want to move after what I felt.” Leo said through gritted teeth. 

“You’re gonna have to move.” Raph said. “Don said that the longer you lay there, the greater the chance of a blood clot.”

“I know, and I want to be up and moving.” Leo grunted, “It just hurts and I don’t trust my feet right now.”

“Just take it easy though.” April warned. 

The incubators were now at the side of Leo’s bed and he looked into them. He saw a little turtle wrapped in pink, and could see that she looked like she had Don’s skin tone, and the other was a boy wrapped in blue with Mikey’s skin tone. 

“Have they cried?” Leo asked. 

“Yes. When they were born. They were fussed over at first, but soon fell asleep.” April said. “They’ll both be ready for feeding soon.” 

“What are we going to feed them? I can’t feed them milk.” Leo said with a slight chuckle. 

“That’s where formula comes in. Casey went out and got both baby food and formula, to see which they take first.” April said. 

“Can I… hold them?” 

“Sure.” April smiled. She took the boy out first. 

Leo watched how she handled him. He reached out his arms to take the little guy. Mikey’s son or not, this felt more like his son after he had carried him for so long. 

Leo looked down at the little face. It was so tiny, but bigger than the first baby he had held months ago, Raph’s dead daughter. This one was alive and healthy. 

The little eyes opened up and look into Leo’s face. “Hi, little guy. I’m sure you know me.” Leo said. 

A little hand came out of the blanket. 

“Put one of your fingers in his hand.” April said. 

Holding the little turtle with his left hand, he placed one of his right fingers in the baby’s hand. The hand grasped onto Leo’s finger tight. 

The feeling of that managed to make Leo’s eyes water. He was finally feeling a live baby in his arms. It would take some getting used to this, but he knew he could do it. But just the feeling alone still made him think of the little girl he had held so long ago that wasn’t ready to be born. 

April took back the boy shortly after and then let him see the girl. 

She cooed at him and also did the little hand grasp. This time, Leo broke down. He held her close. 

“Leo, why don’t you let me have her back.” April said, reaching out her arms. 

“I want to hold my two other babies!” Leo sobbed. 

April and Raph looked at each other with worried looks. They knew that there was no chance of that happening. 

Leo had no intention of letting the little girl go. This was how Raph’s daughter should have been. And his son or daughter. 

“We’ll let you hold her a while longer.” April said. “Come on, Raph.” 

She had handed Leo back the little boy to try to make Leo feel happier. Leo needed time to bond with the two little ones he had carried for so long. 

Leo felt a little better when the others left. He looked down at the two tiny miracle baby turtles. 

Though he had chosen names for the twins already, he had also gone through the baby name book. He wanted to choose names that represented strong and miracle, since these two were strong to make it through his pregnancy and miracles they even existed now. 

“I like the name Brian for you, Mikey’s son. You are a strong little guy.” Leo said. “And as for you, little sweetheart girl, I think I’ll call you Hannah. Being Don’s little girl, you are sure to be happiness for us all.” 

“They sound like excellent names, Leo.” Leo heard Don’s voice. 

“Wait, don’t I get to name my son?” Mikey asked. 

The family came in to the room. They had wanted to know what the names were going to be. 

“Well, you could give him his middle name, Mikey. I carried these two all this time and I would like them to have strong and miracle names.” Leo said. 

“What would you have named your son or daughter?” Splinter asked. 

Leo thought carefully. “Maybe Elaina for a daughter. It meant light. For a son, I would have easily picked Master Yoshi’s name.” 

“And you had picked Rachel for Raph’s daughter.” Don added. 

“Yeah. Even in death, they deserve to have names.” Leo said. 

“Yes, they do.” Splinter said. 

Raph wasn’t entirely enthused with the idea of being a father, but he felt for Leo now. He knew he loved those babies no matter who they belonged to or who had created them. 

Then Leo spoke up again. “Even with them dead, they could still be used in Bishop’s scientific research. They could even be dissected.” He said sadly. “I don’t even want to think about that, and what Agent Bishop was going to do to these two.” 

None of them wanted to picture what that crazy maniac would have done if Leo had stayed in his custody. Even Leo himself could have become a more serious science project other than what they had started and made him do. 

“Ok. His name can be Brian.” Mikey said. “But yeah, I want to pick his middle name. Well, his middle name could be Yoshi too, right?” 

“Brian Yoshi. Sounds like a good match. And Master Yoshi can still be honored.” Leo said. “Don, do you have any ideas for a middle name for your daughter?” 

“I did think of Tang Shin’s name. Maybe she could be Hannah Shin?”

“That also has a good sound to it. That is a way for honoring both Master Yoshi and his love.” Splinter said. 

Everyone felt that the names were really nice. Brian and Hannah were now part of the family. They had been born on January 21st.   
………….

Sometime later on, Leo was helped to get out of the bed. The incubators were taken to the special room, where Leo was now being taken to. 

Leo had his teeth clenched in pain as he held his stomach. It hurt to move. Don and Leatherhead were helping him move slowly. 

Though Leo was in pain, at least he didn’t feel the heavy weight in his stomach anymore. He had now seen the cover over his lower plastron, and now that he was up, Don and Leatherhead had also wrapped him up in bandages. 

As much as he didn’t want to walk, it was beneficial so he wouldn’t get blood clots. He would need to walk a few times a day to start his recovery to getting back in shape, and with it being winter still, there was plenty of time for Leo to recuperate. When warmer weather returned, they all knew that Leo would want to be outside trying to get fit with training again. Right now, he needed to give himself a few months to let his plastron heal. 

Don also wanted to examine the babies to make sure they were truly fine from all the things they had experienced while inside of Leo. He hated to experiment on his own child, but this needed to be done at some point. He would wait a couple of weeks first.   
………………

Leo later gave the twins their first feedings. He had tried formula that had been made for him to feed the babies. Hannah and Brian seemed to like the taste of the formula and began to suckle it. It made Leo smile.

But would they eat baby food too? On the next feeding they would find out.

The next time the babies got hungry, Don and Mikey wanted to try to feed them. Leo let them. The twins were their kids too after all. 

The baby turtles refused the baby food they were offered, so formula it was until they were older.


	31. Chapter 31

Two weeks after the delivery, Leo felt a little better, but his stomach was still sore. Fortunately, he could now be up and about as long as he took it easy. 

He kept the twins in his room. He needed them around. It was better this way if Splinter wanted to do his meditations and Uncle Raph wouldn’t scare the babies if he was trying to threaten Mikey. 

Raph was perfectly fine with letting the others feed and care for the twins. He didn’t think he had much of a fatherly side. He was perfectly fine with being an uncle on the sidelines. 

Now that Hannah and Brian were a couple weeks older, Don wanted to examine their DNA. 

Leatherhead had been taken home after the twins were born so Don would be the one to take care of anything that came up. April might help if needed but she needed her rest. 

Leo was a little worried about Don taking blood from the babies, but Don wanted to know what was in their DNA, if they were part alien or not.

It broke Leo’s heart to hear the babies cry as their skin was pricked to get some blood, but he knew it was necessary. The family wanted to be safe, but hoped that these baby turtles were normal mutant turtles and not some alien monsters. 

“I have studied the contents of the wombs that I took from you the day they were born.” Don said. “And yes, those were made from alien DNA. How they did what they did for so long was a mystery.” 

Leo took the twins out to comfort them when Don was through collecting blood. He left his brother to study it. 

When Leo had taken the babies out of the infirmary, Don got the blood samples ready to examine. He also had the samples from his brothers ready to compare to see how Brian and Hannah compared to theirs. 

When he looked under the microscope, Don saw that Hannah’s DNA was completely in sinc with his own, plus a little bit of Leo’s DNA as well. Then he examined Brian’s, and he found the same thing, only that he was Mikey’s son, mixed with Leo’s DNA as well. 

So Leo did have kids after all. He was a part of them both. He was like their mother, plus having carried them all that time. 

Don went to find Leo to tell him the answers. He found him in the kitchen, getting bottles ready to feed the little ones. 

“Leo, I have some news that should set your mind at ease.” Don said. 

“What did you find out?” 

“Leo, I did find out that yes, Brian is Mikey’s son and Hannah is my daughter, but there was something else. I also found traces of your DNA mixed with ours. So you are also a father too. Those cronies mixed up our DNA.” 

That answer was a little shocking, but it did begin to ease Leo’s mind. 

“You were more like the mother, though we know you’re not a female.” Don said. 

“Well, when they learn to talk, they’re going to be calling me Dad other than you and Mikey.” Leo said. 

“We’ll figure out what we’re going to let the kids call us later. But I know I’m more of Uncle Don to Brian, and he’s Uncle Mikey to Hannah.” 

“That’s agreeable.”   
………………

Casey went back to the city every so often to check on things and to get any important mail. When he went back this time and came back, he had a few letters from Leo’s friend, Ali. 

When Leo got the letters, he knew he had to write back instantly about what had happened to the lair, and that he had now given birth to the twins. 

As he looked at the letters, ones following the first one were saying that she was worried about Leo and his family as Leo hadn’t responded in a while. 

He wrote back about what had happened over the last few months. And that they would find a new home in the springtime. It would have been too cold for the babies in the sewers anyway.   
………………

A few days later, Ali got the letter in the mail and was finally thrilled to hear back from her friend. But when she read the letter, now she knew why. He and his family didn’t have a home anymore. They had been elsewhere when her letters had come. 

But she was more than happy to read that Leo had had the twins and that they were doing fine. He also told her whose babies they were, and that he was partly their father too. 

She wrote back saying that she would visit them later that summer when they found a new home and she had her vacation time again.


	32. Chapter 32

It was still hard on Leo to not be training with his family, but he had gotten used to it. Even a few weeks after surgery, he was still a bit sore, he just didn’t let his family let on. 

But now that Leo’s pregnancy was over, the family still had April’s to worry about. Her due date was around April nineteenth. 

At this stage in her pregnancy, at thirty two weeks, even she was restless and uncomfortable. It was hard for her to sleep at night. She had constant mood swings and cravings. And the pregnancy felt like it would never end. Leo knew exactly what she was going through. 

There were Lamaze classes in town and she went to them every week. She wanted to be prepared. She had also started feeling practice contractions called the Braxton Hicks contractions. Leo had never felt those. 

To further help her along in preparing for motherhood, Leo did let her handle Hannah and Brian. It was getting her used to the concept of feeding, handling, and changing a baby. It was helping Casey as well. He also needed to know how to do these things. 

April had a mind to want to breastfeed her child too, but in case she ever had to be away from the baby, she would need it to be used to a bottle as well. That way, anyone could feed him or her when they babysat.   
…………………..

Back in New York, Bishop was disappointed in Johnson that he couldn’t find and recapture Leonardo. 

“I must have those baby turtles to help fund my work, Johnson.” Bishop growled. 

“I know, and I will find the turtles, Sir. Leonardo might have had them by now. Donatello was surely smart enough to be able to deliver them.” Johnson said. 

“Of course he is. But remember this: the turtles won’t give up their babies so easily. They’ll fight you to their last breath protecting them.” Bishop said. 

“I know, and if these babies had also died, we could always get the turtles back and make more.”   
“True, but the turtles are not always so easy to find. It may take you awhile to get them back, Johnson. And most turtles sleep the winter away.” Bishop said. 

“I know. We may not see the turtles until spring returns.” 

“Just be on the lookout for them whenever they are spotted.” Bishop said. 

“Yes, Sir.” Johnson said.   
………………

At a month along in recovery, Leo’s stomach was still sore, but wasn’t as bad as it was like at the beginning of the recovery. He was now watching training again, but still couldn’t train just yet. 

Don checked the surgical site and it was doing well. 

The baby fat that Leo had gained over the pregnancy had mainly been going down. Leo could now eat what he wanted to again, which was still mainly healthy foods and drinks. He could only go for walks and a little yoga for his exercising right now. 

Leo was still an early riser. The babies slept pretty well at night, which most babies didn’t. When he got up, they were still sleeping. He was glad for that. The early morning was a good time for him to get in his morning meditation. 

After that, he would head to the kitchen to start his morning tea. Then he would also get started on making the formula for Brian and Hannah. He would feed the twins before he fed himself. He knew they would wake up soon. 

The babies did wear some clothes at the moment because of the winter cold outside. They still slept in the incubators and they did a good job keeping the baby turtles warm. When warmer weather came back, the family would make or get some real cribs for them. 

Mikey often wondered what masks were going to be their colors. 

“We can only wait and see how they turn out later.” Leo said.   
………………

When the end of February came on, the guys started thinking of having a baby shower for April. She would need supplies for her baby as well. 

Casey knew he was going to buy the baby’s crib. 

Taking turns, the guys would get dressed in their disguises and go into town to pick their own baby gifts, even Leo. He was well enough to travel now. Two would always stay behind to look after Brian and Hannah. And now, they knew more about what to get a baby. 

Leo was happy that this time he was able to help in preparing a baby shower. For all the times April had been there for him during his pregnancy and many times before, she deserved this.   
……………..

The day of the baby shower, Casey took April out of the house to keep her occupied. They did have a Lamaze class that morning, so it gave the boys enough time to get everything set up. Brian and Hannah were in a playpen in the corner. 

Casey’s mom had also been told of the baby shower and she also came to help out. This was her first grandchild after all. 

When April and Casey returned to the house, April got the big “Surprise!” 

April had known that she and Casey were going to need some things for their child, but she hadn’t suspected that the guys were planning this for her, which she was truly happy they did. They needed the baby supplies before Junior arrived. 

April had been starving by the time she and Casey had returned. Mikey and Casey’s mom had made a good dinner for everyone. They had lunch. 

Then came the games and finally the gifts. April got many of the same things that Leo had gotten for his twins. But these were for April’s baby. Clothes and bedding materials were colors that were anything but that represented just for a boy or girl. 

Casey showed April the crib that he had also bought and April couldn’t be happier. 

After the baby shower, the family and friends all sat down to think of names for the new baby and then they watched movies for the rest of the day. Mrs. Jones spent the night and went home in the morning.


	33. Chapter 33

The cold weather kept dragging on and the snow was relentless that winter. It seemed like winters up here in the northeast were the worst. One snowstorm after the other was putting more snow on the ground. 

Casey and the turtles had to constantly keep shoveling snow every few days it seemed. They were eager for spring to return. The mutants were more than ready to return to New York and begin searching for a new home.   
………………

Weeks later, April finally went into labor and Casey took her to the hospital. 

For now, the turtles and Splinter were anxious to hear of the news. They tried to find things to do until they heard that April and the baby were alright. 

Mikey and Raph had a bet on what was going to be for dinner if they could guess what the baby was. Pizza if it was a boy, lasagna if it was a girl. 

It was many hours later, well into the night when they got the call from Casey. “I have a daughter!” 

They all cheered. Now Hannah had another girl to hang with. And after the call, they all had lasagna for dinner the next evening.   
……………..

A few days later, April and Casey brought the new baby girl home. 

“So, what’s her name?” Mikey asked. 

“This is Erica.” April said. 

“Welcome to the family, little Erica.” Master Splinter said. April then handed her to him to hold. 

Splinter felt like a new grandfather all over again. 

Erica was passed around to everyone to hold and she was also introduced to Hannah and Brian as well. They looked at her, but didn’t notice her too much. Everyone couldn’t help but laugh at the babies’ reaction to each other.   
…………………..

Now that April had had her baby and it was in April after all, and warmer weather was returning to the northeastern states, the mutant family had finally thought it was time to head back to New York and try to find a new home. 

The stay up here at the farmhouse had been nice, but the turtles were more than ready to go home again. So was Splinter. 

They all packed up to go back to the city. 

Leo’s plastron was nearly healed so he would also be going on the search for a new home. But until a new home was found, he would be leaving his kids with April and Casey. Splinter would stay with them while his sons searched.   
………………

When they got back to New York, they all went into April and Casey’s apartment. The incubators had been brought in for storage. The rest of the stuff would be left in the truck and van for now. 

The curtains were closed up so no one could see inside. The mutant family would stay here for a little while, before they would go house hunting. 

After resting up, Leo and Mikey fed the twins one last time before they were to set out. Leo most of all hated leaving them behind, but they had to find a new home before they could be brought down into the dank, drafty sewers. 

Hannah and Brian didn’t have a problem with who fed and held them too much, but Leo did seem to be the one that had a magic touch, as they knew his voice the most. Only if they were colicky did they all have a problem on their hands. 

Leo, Don, and Mikey all kissed the twins goodbye then they and Raph went back to the sewers to start looking for a new home. Splinter stayed to look after the twins, along with April and Casey. The guys all had backpacks on as they left. 

“I wish we could have brought them along.” Mikey said. 

“I know you do, but it isn’t safe for them until we find a suitable place.” Leo said. “And they may need to stay up there until even after we find a good home. If it needs a lot of fixing up, the noises would disturb them. If possible, they may have to go back to the farmhouse.” 

“Let’s just hope we don’t have to be away from them for too long, Leo.” Don said. 

“I know. I don’t want to be away from them for too long either.” 

The turtles all went back to the lair under the castle in Central Park. Holding their flashlights up, they looked for any other salvageable materials that could be taken to a new home. There was quite a lot left that could be useful, but some parts of the lair were destroyed to the point where it couldn’t be used again, such as the electricity area. 

“Without the electricity, we can’t live here.” Don said. 

“When we find a new suitable location, we’ll come back for our old stuff.” Leo said. 

The boys began a new search from the lair.   
………………..

After the Atlantean lair had been destroyed, finding the reservoir lair had been nice and they thought it was going to be the best home ever, as it had had more space than both of the last lairs, but in the end, that too had been destroyed. They couldn’t stay there if there was even the slightest chance of Bishop’s goons finding them there again even if the place could be fixed up again.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used the 2007 movie lair as their newfound home, but this is not going to turn movie wise at all other than that.

It was two days of searching the sewers before they finally found a place that somewhat resembled Leatherhead’s home. It was an abandoned subway station. 

They were all impressed by the size of it. They all split up to go explore it. 

Don knew that the biggest room would be needed for his lab. 

When they all went upstairs, each turtle selected a room of their own. And there were a few rooms downstairs that could be used for guests. Until Splinter was here to pick a room, they had no idea what room he would pick, but more than likely, one where he would have more privacy. 

Each of the guys had picked their rooms right next to the other. Leo had picked the kids’ room that was to the left of his. Don’s room was on the right side of Leo’s. 

Though the kids would have their own room together, while they were very young, when they got older they would have separate rooms. But right now, Leo most of all, didn’t want to be very far from them. 

At the main exit/entrance to the lair, which was up a flight of stairs, they did some exploring topside to find out where in New York this lair was. 

As it turned out, it was more in the downtown of the Brooklyn area of New York. It was much further away than the other two lairs.

After they all regrouped, it was decided that they would live here. Now, they just needed to go back and get Splinter, Hannah, and Brian. Then they would worry about moving in, or they would do the heavy moving first, then bring the twins over, but Splinter did need to see the place that was chosen. 

That night, they camped in the new lair to get the new live in feel of the place. Raph went topside and made the phone call to tell April that they had found their new place to live. He asked if they could come and pick them up in the morning in the back alley. 

The next day, Casey followed the directions to that section of the city, and though it was daylight hours, the turtles all came out of hiding to pile into the van. Leo was more than eager to be reunited with the twins, as were Don and Mikey. 

It was quite a long drive back to April and Casey’s apartment. When the boys got upstairs, April willingly handed the baby turtles to their parents. 

“They were good babies for the first day, but they started becoming fussy when you guys weren’t around.” April said. 

“We did what we could for them, but it was clear they wanted you, my sons.” Splinter said. 

Mikey was glad to have his son in his arms again. And though Hannah was Don’s daughter, Leo wanted to hold her first. He had the stronger connection to the babies. He didn’t want anything to happen to them. 

Raph had accepted the twins being in their lives now, but he had no idea how to bond properly with them. Maybe when they were older, he would have a better role in their lives, but for now, he didn’t like dealing with the crying and changing of dirty diapers. 

“So what is the new lair like?” April asked. 

“Oh, it’s very big, April.” Mikey said. “There’s lots of rooms!” 

“It’s a very big and open living area with a good place for a kitchen. The exit and entrance is up a flight of stairs.” Leo said. 

“It’s not too messy, but will need some time for cleaning and to get it ready to be lived in.” Don said. 

“But are you going to be able to take the twins with you?” April asked. 

“We'll take their beds and food, we should make due.” Leo said. “This lair has only minimal cleaning compared to when we first moved into the reservoir lair.” 

“I can’t wait to see it, my sons.” Splinter said. 

“And we would like to see it too, when it’s all been settled into.” April said. “Just make sure to keep fumes away from the twins.” 

“There’s going to be that sewer fume no matter what, April.” Raph said. 

“She means the cleaning fumes.” Don said. “Once we get started.” 

“It was nice of you to put up with us all this time, April and Casey, but we’ve been ready for going back to the sewers for a long time.” Leo said. “We’ll be sure to bring you down to our new lair soon.” 

The guys and Splinter began packing up their stuff out of the apartment and back out to the Battle Shell. The babies were in baby carrier seats now. 

When they arrived back on the street that would take them below, Leo and Mikey put the carrier packs on and they each carried a baby. Don and Raph led the way down. When they got to the entrance, Don found the electrical switch and turned it on. 

Now the new lair lit up with an amazing brightness. It made it look nearly like a castle. 

There could be so many things that could be added to make this place feel like home. The family would start with getting their things from the other lair, then worry about any additional things. 

Leo most of all wanted to get started on the babies’ room. But for the time being, they could be allowed to sleep with him or any of his brothers. They were still sleeping in the incubators, but soon, they needed to be switched to real cribs. 

Splinter walked around the new lair, looking for a room for himself. 

Leo noticed that his father was looking for a room downstairs. He knew Splinter liked to have his privacy for meditation. 

Splinter found a room that was the farthest back in the lair. He liked the feel of it. This would be his room. And it would give his sons some space. He knew that they had all had picked their rooms upstairs. 

They all spent the rest of the day unpacking some of their things from the Battle Shell and began to clean their new home. 

The next day, they went back to the old lair and started getting back what was left of their heavier stuff. 

Don insisted that Leo stay home with Hannah and Brian while they were collecting the heavy items. Plus Leo did want to get started on their room to be slept in. But not all of the supplies were here yet, and he didn’t even have his own bed here yet. He went about trying to get as much in order as possible. 

While the others were away, Hannah and Brian were showing they were happy to be left with Leo. Not much fussing at all. 

It took the whole day for the others to bring the bedding materials, couch, table, and chairs down. Leo helped with the chairs, but Don wouldn’t let him handle the heaviest stuff. Even though it had been over 3 months since his surgery, he didn’t want to take a chance of Leo’s plastron getting re-injured. 

All of the beds had been brought over. Casey had even insisted on helping out by letting them have a moving van for some of the stuff, which had made the move go a lot easier than just using the Battle Shell. 

The beds were all here now, but first, the boys all took turns using the brooms cleaning off the floors and dusting. After all, they didn’t want the babies to be around that stuff. 

Once all the dusting was done, the beds were all brought into the respective bedrooms. Leo wanted the twins in his bedroom for now. He wanted the twins’ bedroom properly set up like a nursery before he would let them start to sleep in there. And he wasn’t ready to let them out of his sight for long. 

Now that everything was set up, it did feel more like a home, but being here would take a lot of getting used to. They hoped that they could keep this lair well hidden. And they were grateful for Casey’s help in the moving process.


	35. Chapter 35

After getting settled in, a few weeks later, Don gave Leo the ok to start training again. His plastron was nearly healed, but the cover would have to stay on for quite some time, nearly a year, or when it came off on its own. 

Hannah and Brian were kept in their playpen out of the dojo, but nearby in case of anything happening. 

Leonardo was so happy to be training again. He knew that some of his muscles were weaker because of the lack of training time. He would build them back up. 

And over the course of these four months, Leo had lost most of the baby fat that he had gained with eating right and doing some simple walking when he wasn’t allowed to do much of anything else. Just because he had had babies didn’t mean he was going to let himself get fat. 

Don, Raph, and Mikey couldn’t wait to start sparring with their eldest brother again, but Don warned them to be careful of the injury. Leo was starting his katas again, and they needed to wait until the full eighteen weeks was up just to be sure. 

Right now, Leo felt like he was a match for anything and wanted to take on Johnson again so badly for kidnapping him, taking away two of his babies, and destroying their lair. He would get the agent back for it one of these days, but he needed to focus more on the two he had and his family. 

Given what Bishop and his goons were like, it was better to avoid them for now, and wait for a time when Leo would be stronger and back to his full potential as a warrior first. And they all knew that the government goons would stop it nothing to get their hands on the babies if they could. 

Leo was so glad that all during his pregnancy that the Foot Clan had not been a problem, as Karai had turned into an ally after the fight with the Tengu Shredder.   
……………

April was soon brought down when everything was all settled and she was impressed with how big this lair was. It had nearly the same size as the lair under Central Park. It might have been a little smaller, but it was still a good size for this family that had gotten a little bit bigger.  
………………..

Later that summer, when Ali got some vacation time again, she drove back to New York to see the turtle family. By this time, video game machines had been added to the lair for Mikey as well as a skateboard ramp. 

Ali thought Hannah and Brian were the cutest little mutant turtles she had ever laid her eyes on. 

“You did a wonderful job in caring for them, both before and after pregnancy.” Ali said. 

“Thanks.” Leo said. “Hannah is Don’s daughter, and Brian is Mikey’s son.” 

“After what you had said about Raphael’s daughter, then the one that you didn’t see must have been yours. I’m real sorry, Leo.” She said. 

“It’s ok. But somehow, Agent Johnson had also combined my DNA with the twins too, so they are a part of me. I’m sort of like the… mother.” Leo said. “I just wish I knew the gender of the baby I didn’t get to see.” 

“Hard telling. But at least you have one of each gender right here. Four kids might have been too much for you and your family to handle anyway.” Ali said. “And your human friends have a child now too.” 

“Yep. We hope they’ll grow up as friends. We’ve already called them cousins.” 

“That’s good. How are you doing in the recovery these days? I noticed the covering on your belly.” Ali pointed with her head. 

“I’m fine. It’s on there to keep it protected, but I’ve made a full recovery. I’m back in training and doing what I used to do before I was kidnapped.” 

“Don’t you mean turtle-napped?” Mikey joined them. He had just finished skateboarding and now wanted to hold Brian. 

Leo handed Brian to Mikey. The little guy had been starting to get fussy. Mikey went to go prepare a bottle for his son. 

“So, do you or Don look after Hannah more?” Ali asked. 

“I think I do most of the time. Don does pay attention to her every day, but when he starts getting busy on inventions and projects, I pay attention to her. Having the twins around does have me limit my time in the dojo right now.” Leo explained. 

“Before the babies you were in the dojo too much sometimes.” Mikey said on his way out of the kitchen as he sat down on the couch to feed his son. 

“I only did it so I could hone my skills to keep this family safer, Mikey. And I would still do it.” Leo said to his little brother. 

“Well, even when you’re doing that, you don’t want to overdo it either, Leo.” Ali said. 

“I know, but it seems that I have to push myself to my limits just to make sure I can do my katas and if an enemy attacked, I could protect my family.” Leo said. “I couldn’t do that much when I was pregnant and Bishop’s goons attacked and destroyed our other lair.” 

“That was a good sized lair for all of you. Even I would have wanted to live there, if I was living here that is and had no other place to go.” Ali said. 

“You’re always welcome in our home.” Leo said.

“Thank you.” 

Leo then began preparing a bottle for Hannah and he let Ali have the honor of feeding her. 

“I’ve thought of having kids one day, but just haven’t met the right person yet. But then, I’m also in the mini horse breeding business.” She said. “I have too many things going on in my life for kids. And I’m going to go to college soon to further my education in veterinary medicine.” 

“That’s nice. I know you can do it.” Leo said. 

“Thanks. I know it will be hard, but it will all be worth it to help animals of any kind, even turtles.”   
……………….

Ali stayed for the two weeks she had off then went back to Nebraska. 

Splinter was then summoned to the Daimyo’s world, and within a short time, he came back with a visitor: Usagi. 

After having been away for months, Usagi had returned to see how his friend, Leonardo was and to see the new family members. He had wanted to meet who he was going to be a godfather to. One little girl and boy.

He was sad to hear that the one lost baby had to have been Leo’s, but he was also glad to hear he was also a part of these two as well. Then he heard about the lair and he said he had had trouble trying to get in touch with the family now that their lair didn’t have any water pools in it this time. 

Usagi would find a way to get here and the turtles would make sure he was welcome here anytime.


	36. Chapter 36

Raph continued to watch the twins from more at a distance, but one evening, the guys were called on to take care of something topside. 

Leo wanted to see what Raph was capable of doing for the kids for a change and made him stay behind. “Leo, you know I have limited tolerance for the screaming and the diapers.” Raph argued. 

“Raph, they need to know that you are family too and not an outsider. I’m sure you can take care of them. It’s just for tonight.” Leo said. 

Raph growled. “Fine, but you know I’m an action turtle, not a babysitter.” 

“They’re asleep right now, Raph. Maybe you’ll get lucky and not have to do anything.” Don said. “Splinter’s here if you need help if they wake up.” 

“Let’s go, guys. I’m counting on you, Raph.” Leo said as he led Don and Mikey out the door. 

Raph grumped. He hated being left behind. He wanted to see the intense action and be part of it taking down baddies. But tonight, he was stuck at home to take care of the little noise makers. He hoped they wouldn’t need him for anything. 

He knew Splinter was in his room meditating and Raph sat down to watch some TV, waiting for his brothers to return. He turned the channels to a Wrestlemania. But within an hour, there was a crying sound. 

“Agh! Go back to sleep!” Raph groaned. But the crying didn’t stop. 

After about five minutes, Raph reluctantly got off the couch and went to Leo’s room, where the twins were. Brian was the one crying. 

“What do you want, Kid?” Raph said in a low voice. The baby continued to cry. “I’m no good at this.” 

Raph finally picked up the little boy. “Just stop crying, please.” He pleaded with him to no avail. 

Raph had the technique down for holding Brian, but he didn’t know what was wrong. He took the child down to Splinter’s room. 

Master Splinter heard the crying and opened his eyes when Raph came in. “Sorry, Master, but I have no idea how to handle this little guy. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.” 

“Let me see him, my son.” Splinter said. 

Raphael gladly handed him over. 

Splinter checked him and smelled him. “He might need changing.” 

“Uh, no. If it was feeding, I could handle that, but no. No diapers.” Raph said. 

“Could you bring me a diaper and cleaning wipes for him?” Splinter asked. 

“Yeah.” Raph said and went and got the stuff out of the baby’s room. He brought it to his father, but didn’t stick around to watch the cleaning up part. 

He went back to the Wrestlemania. But when Splinter was done, he brought Brian over to his son. 

“Now that he is changed, you were the one that was left in charge of him and his sister.” Splinter said. 

Raph reluctantly took Brian. He was calmer now that his diaper was changed. Splinter went back to his room. 

“Now what?” Raph asked the baby turtle. 

Brian looked up at him and cooed in response. 

“I hope you’re not hungry. Your dad fed ya before he left.” 

The baby didn’t do much else. 

“Fine, you wanna watch this game with me? Well, you don’t have much else to do rather than sleep.” 

Raph turned Brian around so he could watch the game with his Uncle Raph. Before long, the baby began to get tired again. Raph then positioned the baby boy against his plastron belly down. In no time, Brian was asleep. 

Raph watched the game a little longer, waiting for his brothers to come home. He hoped they hadn’t run into any trouble because he wasn’t there to back them up. 

As Raph watched the baby turtle sleep, he saw the look of innocence on his little face. He knew they were innocent when they were sleeping, but they required so much attention when they were awake.

As he listened to Brian’s little breathing, soon, even Raph got tired and fell asleep on the couch, with the baby tucked under his arm.   
…………….

When Leo, Don, and Mikey eventually came home, they were covered in a few cuts and bruises from their skirmish with the Purple Dragons and later, a Mob incident in Midtown. 

“So how do you think Raph did with the twins?” Mikey asked. 

“Hard to say.” Leo said. “I just hope he didn’t ignore them if they started crying.” 

Leo saw the TV was on, but didn’t see anyone watching it. Don and Mikey had gone to the infirmary to get their injuries treated. Leo went over to turn the TV off when he saw Raph passed out on the couch with Brian on his plastron. 

Leo smiled at that. He went to the infirmary to tell the others. 

“Mikey, Don, you should see what’s on the couch. Raph has little Brian sleeping on him.” 

“After this is put on Mikey’s arm.” Don said, applying a bandage to a cut on Mikey’s right arm. 

Then all three went to look. They all smiled at what they saw. Don took out his phone and snapped a picture. It was so cute. This was the first time Raph had shown any type of bonding with either of the kids. 

After that, Mikey carefully picked up his son while Don and Leo went to go treat Leo’s injuries. Mikey took his son back upstairs to Leo’s room and put him back in his crib. Hannah was still sleeping peacefully. 

After he was treated, Leo went to see Splinter, who had finished meditating for the night. “Good to see you are back, Leonardo.” Splinter greeted. “What happened?” 

“Some Purple Dragons and the Mob had to be causing trouble in Midtown tonight. We got away with just minor cuts and bruises, nothing major. But how did Raph do tonight?” 

“He had a little trouble when Brian started crying, needing to be changed. But after that, things were quiet. He was the one to care for Brian, for the most part.” Splinter said. 

“We found him asleep with Brian on top of him. It was real cute. He’s still on the couch but Mikey took Brian upstairs.” Leo said. 

“I think Raphael bonded with him then.” 

“I hope so. He has to find a way to get closer to the kids somehow. I know he hasn’t been real close with them at all ever since even before they were born, but he needs to be bonded to them so they know he’s not a stranger.” Leo said. 

“Just don’t force it on him too fast, Leonardo. Things might get better as time goes on and when they are older. He’ll protect them just as he would any of you.” 

“That’s all I’m asking of him. But I’m hoping he’ll have stronger bonds with them when he looks after them from time to time. By being with Brian, he showed us that he does have a softer side for the kids.” 

“That is good. Well, take care, my son. I must go to bed now. It has been a long day.” Splinter said. “Good night.” 

“Good night, Sensei.” Leo said and left his dad’s room. He was tired too and ready for bed. 

Don was up in Leo’s room when he came into his room. His brother was tucking his daughter back in for the night, as Don too was going to bed. “Good night, Hannah.” He said, kissing her. Then he put her back in her crib. 

“Night, Leo.” Don said on his way out. 

“Night, Donny.” Leo replied. Then Leo went over and looked at the peacefully sleeping babies. He smiled, and then kissed them both good night too. Then he went over to his own bed and tucked himself in. 

Before sleep claimed him, Leo thought to himself that hopefully times would only get better for Raph and the kids. He was learning to bond with them though he knew Raph wasn’t always the biggest kid lover. But he could tolerate kids when he had to. 

Don and Mikey were also very happy that they had seen the scene on the couch. Their brother needed to bond with the kids too. They all had to take turns babysitting now that Leo was capable of going topside again.   
…………….

The family knew that Agent Johnson and Bishop would not give up looking for Hannah and Brian and only wanted them for the DNA they had, but they would always be there to protect the little ones. 

Leo had come a long way in this situation from when this pregnancy had been forced on him, to losing two babies to only have the last two, and going through problems with some family members who hadn’t accepted everything at first. And now, Raph was making progress in bonding with the twins finally. It couldn’t make Leo any happier. 

Don and Mikey were also great fathers/uncles. They gave their own child plenty of attention, but like when Don got busy with his projects, Leo or Mikey, and now Raph were happy to give Hannah attention when her father couldn’t. Hannah was the more serious baby. 

Mikey loved to read to his son, and he would try everything in his power to get him to laugh. Brian laughed a lot at Mikey. He would surely have Mikey’s energy and lust for life. 

Then there was the lair being destroyed. All they could do was take many precautions and make sure this lair wasn’t discovered, but overall, it was big and all settled into now. Everyone had their space to have their own room and do their own activities. And the twins were now sleeping in their own room instead of Leo’s. 

Leo knew he needed to let go a little more and get the babies started on a road of independence by letting them sleep on their own. But he would always be there when they needed him. 

Master Splinter was so proud of how all his sons had grown to taking care of these special, yet strange blessings in the twins being brought into their lives. He would help out too for as long as he could, but he left the main responsibility up to his sons. 

And as with their human friends, the mutant family was also glad that April and Casey had let their daughter, Erica, be considered a cousin to Hannah and Brian. They would need another kid their own age to play with. And they all needed more family. 

They would get revenge for what happened one day, but it could wait. Life was just too sweet for it all to be taken away again so soon. 

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sequel coming soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Beta read by Applepye.


End file.
